Article: Congrats to Viacom for Filing Most Idiotic Copyright Claim Ever on Official "Last of Us" Trailer

[Shawn Zipay]

If you're a Youtube user who has ever uploaded a video ever, you know how often these geniuses of the troll universe (Viacom) get off on filing false copyright claims on videos they have no business claiming. You would think that big businesses such as Sony would be exempt from their moronic clutches but you would be wrong!

The official trailer for The Last of Us, uploaded by Sony Entertainment, has been hit with a copyright claim from Viacom and as a result the video has been blocked from being viewed through Youtube. In fact, if you go to the main page for The Last of Us right now, it shows you the same as the image below does.



Ouch.

A representative for Sony informed Kotaku that they are "sorry for the inconvenience" and hopes to have the issue resolved shortly. Viacom has also apparently pulled tiny videos uploaded by event goers at the 2011 VGAs due to copyright claims, including a video Kotaku shot that was just seven seconds long of Shigeru Miyamoto bobbing his head during the event.

A big part of me really hopes that Sony doesn't let Viacom off easy on this. Viacom has been filing copyright claims on videos they have no legal right to for as long as I can recall and it needs to stop.

[Stryker]

Re: Article: Congrats to Viacom for Filing Most Idiotic Copyright Claim Ever on Official "Last of Us" Trailer

Filing false copyright claims should be illegal and punishable!

[Linux]

Re: Article: Congrats to Viacom for Filing Most Idiotic Copyright Claim Ever on Official "Last of Us" Trailer

Filing false copyright claims should be illegal and punishable!

I agree with that, it seems like now-a-days every company just attacks another company for little to no reason.

[K-16]

Hmm... So they're trying to force it to be a GameTrailers exclusive video, is that right? Very interesting. What does Viacom gain out of this?

[Thortok2000]

The false copyright claims are getting out of hand. The way youtube does it, it puts the 'burden of proof' on the person posting the video to prove that they have copyright. It doesn't take much, simply a 'signed' form saying that you claim it does not violate anyone else's copyright. Then if the other person steps up past that point they have to prove copyright or some such, and doing so fraudulently would be, well, fraud. What I don't get is why there's that original back and forth step. It should be pretty self explanatory that you are not posting copyrighted material. Then if anyone wants to say that you are, they have to prove it before any response from you is necessary. But the penalties would be harsher as well, if it DOES get proven you're using copyrighted material. A little bit of research says that Viacom is battling Youtube in courts, suing them over copyright. Wikipedia's article on Viacom is where I got the info. Seems to me they're being bitter and trying to annoy youtube users by all these false copyright claims.

[Iwantcable]

Re: Article: Congrats to Viacom for Filing Most Idiotic Copyright Claim Ever on Official "Last of Us" Trailer

Filing false copyright claims should be illegal and punishable!

It is, but usually individuals don't have the resources to fight. It will be interesting to see if Sony does anything, but I doubt it.

From http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#512:
(3) Elements of notification. — (A) To be effective under this subsection, a notification of claimed infringement must be a written communication provided to the designated agent of a service provider that includes substantially the following:
(i) A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
(ii) Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
(iii) Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material.
(iv) Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.

(v) A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
(vi) A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.