YouTubers Call Takedown Notices Abusive

Legal battle ensues over YouTube home video, copyright claim

(NEWSER) - Baby's got moves. And now he's got a lawyer, too. A YouTube video of an 18-month-old rocking out to the Prince song "Let's Go Crazy" has ignited a legal fight involving the music industry, a ticked-off mom and Prince himself. The lawsuit—prompted when YouTube pulled the video at the request of music honchos—could help define copyright laws, says ABC News. More»

Downfall parodies disappearing from YouTube

(NEWSER) - The day of reckoning has arrived for one of the Internet's most enduring memes. The German movie studio behind the film Downfall has demanded that YouTube remove clips from the production subtitled by users to make it seem as if Hitler is ranting about anything from Michael Jackson's death to the iPhone 4G leak. Downfall's director says he considers the parodies a compliment, but Constantin Film's lawyers are taking a harder line, Mashable notes. More»

Refusing to share video of little girl's ball toss makes league look petty

(NEWSER) - It was a great baseball moment when a stunned Phillies fan watched his 3-year-old daughter toss back a foul ball he had just caught. But Major League Baseball isn't playing ball with the video, Jennifer Van Grove writes at Mashable. MLB has made a copyright claim on the video, making sure all copies except its own are yanked from YouTube and elsewhere. That's robbing the video of its chance to go truly viral and delivering a PR home run for MLB, Van Grove writes. More»

(NEWSER) - At last, a little peace and harmony between the music industry and the tech world. YouTube and Universal Music announced a deal today to create a new website called Vevo.com to show music videos, CNET reports. It will launch later this year, with YouTube—and parent company Google—providing the technology and Universal providing the talent. More»

Contract negotiations between firms stall

(NEWSER) - Warner Music ordered YouTube to remove all music videos by Warner artists today after talks to renew their licensing deal stalled, Reuters reports. The impasse could affect hundreds of thousands of video clips. The music group, home to artists such as Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is demanding a larger cut of revenues, though no details were made public. More»