RTFA: http://youtube.com/watch?v=UClIdjK6WB4

Graphic violence: video of David Snyder, attacked by a police officer

It has been confirmed by a representative from WNDU-TV that the above video qualifies as “fair use.” This is really great news. The biggest problem with fair use is that it’s not consistently enforced. Even the copyright office bitches out of accountability.

So, since the United States crawls along at the inexorably slow snail’s pace of precedent, I present for your litigious inspection the opinion of Scott Hums, Web Directory at WDNU:

…I have no problem with people uploading parts of the video. Completely ignoring the legal argument, it’s the best for both parties. The information is spread and the topic is discussed without “giving away” the power of the full version of the video. Using 20 or 30 seconds is perfectly fine and I wished everyone did that.

The problem comes from people thinking they have a right to just show the whole or nearly whole video. That’s what we are fighting. There’s no reason anyone has to upload the whole thing when we are offering it for free to anyone who follows a link. All they are doing is encouraging us to never put this material on the internet in the first place, which is something that is obviously not good for everyone involved.

“Fair use” is about having access to material to make further commentary without damaging the marketability of the copyright holder. That’s a concept that most YouTube users fail to understand from my recent experience with this video.

Does that move things forward at all? A little…

RTFA: http://youtube.com/watch?v=108oxzLvl80&mode=relate…

On Sept 14, 2007, David Snyder was beaten by a police officer at a town meeting

This youtube video has a strange story behind it. For some reason, it was taken down along with other videos related to the Roseland, Indiana Police attack against David Snyder. It’s not clear what the problem is with the video - copyright? Does it have something to do with the terms of service?

It could be something completely legitimate motivating YouTube’s actions, but the fact that the video and account simply disappeared is shady.

Meanwhile, the “fair use” version of the Roseland Police attack remains online. Not only that, but WDNU has actually confirmed the fair use claims in the attack video!

So what is going on? Is some griefer other than WNDU-TV picking on these videos? Is it possible that the take-down was not copyright-related?