CONFIRMED: Freeview Sent Take Down Notice To YouTube
It’s confirmed. Freeview sent a take down notice to YouTube requesting they remove the Freeview spoof ad created by comedians Dan Ilic and Marc Fennel.
Head of Corporate Communications & Public Affairs at Google Australia, Rob Shilkin, confirmed today to Margaret Simons over at Crikey the following:
“We don’t ordinarily comment on individual videos or any DMCA notices that may be filed, but due to some confusion that is circulating online, I’ve made some enquiries internally”
“I wanted to confirm that we received a DMCA notice for lawyers acting on behalf of Freeview Australia Limited to remove the video in question. More information on the DMCA process is here: http://www.youtube.com/t/dmca_policy“
Freeview Marketing Manager, Liz Howarth stated to Margaret yesterday that:
“It did not happen,”
It seems Freeview didn’t like Dan and Marc’s idea of stating what they thought.
Jerks.
Splendid that by lodging a DMCA request, they’re playing under US law, although Australian law would also be on side here. Parody is protected speech, a DMCA counter notice would bring it back in quick time. In YouTube’s defence, they have to take content down on receipt of a DMCA, but it’s not hard getting it back up.