http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57565776-93/dancing-baby-vs-youtube-prince-case-set-to-go-to-trial/

Dancing baby vs. YouTube-Prince case set to go to trial

A judge rules that a jury will decide on the legal battle between Universal Music and a mother who posted a YouTube video of her children dancing to a Prince song.

by Dara Kerr

January 24, 2013 7:11 PM PST

The woman who posted a video of her children dancing to the Prince tune "Let's Go Crazy" and has since waged nearly a six-year legal fight with Universal Music Group over the clip, may see her day in court.

US District Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled today that a summary judgment will not decide this case, which means that if the two parties don't settle, this lawsuit will proceed to a jury trial.

The whole suit got started in 2007 when Prince asked YouTube to remove the clip of the dancing boys. When the clip got scrubbed, the baby's mother, Stephanie Lenz, cried foul and filed suit asking for damages. The woman's lawyers at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) say the dancing-baby clip is the poster child for "fair use."

However, in 2008, Fogel threw out Lenz's suitagainst Universal, calling Lenz's argument that Universal was misusing its copyright weak. But EFF rapidly filed a second complaint just 10 days later. Later that same year, Fogel threw Lenz a lifeline and didn't yank the case again; instead, he gave more weight to the concept of fair use.

Now, Fogel said that if the two sides can't come to a truce, a jury will have to decide what is fair use.

"As the Ninth Circuit recently has observed, the process of making a fair use determination 'is neither a mechanistic exercise nor a gestalt undertaking, but a considered legal judgment,'" wrote Fogel.

At the same time, Fogel wrote that EFF will have to prove "a demonstration of some actual knowledge of misrepresentation" on the part of Universal.

WTF?!?

I thought this crap was settled a couple years ago...

I thought this case was settled too. What the hell happened?

Prince could end it with a phone call and paying her legal bills.

babynoz said:

I thought this case was settled too. What the hell happened?

somewhere out there, an attorney or two needed more billable hours and decided to go after mr 'deep pockets' nelson.....

Just drop it Prince, be compassionate, it's not as if she's some guy deliberately out to rip you off, really not worth all the negative publicity this will inevitably generate......

TheFreakerFantastic said:

Just drop it Prince, be compassionate, it's not as if she's some guy deliberately out to rip you off, really not worth all the negative publicity this will inevitably generate......

I think she is suing him.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

TheFreakerFantastic said:

Just drop it Prince, be compassionate, it's not as if she's some guy deliberately out to rip you off, really not worth all the negative publicity this will inevitably generate......

I think she is suing him.

The suit is against Universal...this is the order denying their motion to dismiss...

https://www.eff.org/files...082008.pdf

EFF on behalf of Stephanie Lenz...

https://www.eff.org/cases...-universal

"Go baby go.."

this shit is petty.

Kind of puts that Billboard bs about "he will listen to his fans and what they want", in its proper perspective, doesn't it?

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

Kind of puts that Billboard bs about "he will listen to his fans and what they want", in its proper perspective, doesn't it?

LOL.

Even if she is suing Universal, people out there will think PRINCE and it will be negative to him with the general public. Even people that are not into Prince know of this case - embaressing

I hope prince loses his purple ruffled shirt on this one .. he probably didn't even write 'lets go crazy' hep probably ripped it off from andre and dez and insisted they get no credit .. again

pardon my assness .. i have been reading dmsr .. and as a musician myself .. this book has confirmed many of my inherant suspicions regarding prince ability to write songs with others and give them proper credit .. its too bad he lost so many friends due to his unwillingness to give them proper credit and pay .. this dancing baby case really drives home the person prince really is and why his music no longer feels like there is any love in it at all

pathetic ...

in the words of george lopez "can never do nothing!

Wow, I had this all wrong. SHE is suing! Well, now I don't feel bad for her at all. If she believes in the cause, then more power to her, but she is no sad victim.

i honestly can't stand children frolicking over over-played songs anyways

[Edited 1/26/13 10:08am]

She needs to letitgo.

NDRU said:

Wow, I had this all wrong. SHE is suing! Well, now I don't feel bad for her at all. If she believes in the cause, then more power to her, but she is no sad victim.

Yeah exactly. I don't know what she thinks she'll gain from this...

TrevorAyer said:

metallicjigolo said:

Regardless of how cute or harmless people think this video is, I think Universal will come out on top on this one. According to copyright laws these things should be taken into consideration... The distinction between what is fair use and what is infringement in a particular case will not always be clear or easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission. The 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law cites examples of activities that courts have regarded as fair use: “quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author’s observations; use in a parody of some of the content of the work parodied; summary of an address or article, with brief quotations, in a news report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of a small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental and fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located in the scene of an event being reported.” Copyright protects the particular way authors have expressed themselves. It does not extend to any ideas, systems, or factual information conveyed in a work. The safest course is to get permission from the copyright owner before using copyrighted material. The Copyright Office cannot give this permission. When it is impracticable to obtain permission, you should consider avoiding the use of copyrighted material unless you are confident that the doctrine of fair use would apply to the situation. The Copyright Office can neither determine whether a particular use may be considered fair nor advise on possible copyright violations. If there is any doubt, it is advisable to consult an attorney. FL-102, Reviewed June 2012

TRANSLATION: When Prince says no, he means it.

TonyVanDam said:

This lady is sueing Universal for abuse of copyright. It was always against Universal and not Prince because they made sure the video was taken down.

The issue is a matter of principal not of money. The woman is voluntarily supported by a team of lawyers from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

They feel this case is an example of where the fair use of a work was squashed by misusing copyright.

Legally they may not be completely right, but they have a point.