It's this DMCA thing. Geller claims it's infringing copyright, YouTube has to take it down or they will be responsible if it actually is infringing copyright.Why would they remove that video? It's something that you made yourself. I thought Youtube were much smarter than that..
That means that Richard has a case.
Geller claimed that Richard posted material to which he, Geller, owns the copyright. Which quite obviously is not true.
The only problem might be that a (seemingly letterbox-) company claimed the copyright, not Geller personally.
But is it drawing more web attention to it? When someone does a Google search, is your video in the top results? Because he killed the YouTube search. He also killed the YouTube related video hits. Every time you move to a different site, all of the web sites linking to your video are dead. That is how you gain a web presence. That is how you reach people on the internet.I might have a case, yes, but Geller doing what he did has brought more attention to it then I ever did. I won't worry about putting up again, I'm sure someone else can do that if they want. I'll be putting something up soon on metacafe that Uri will just love...
According to this blogger (found via BoingBoing), one can only request removal of a video if one is the owner of the copyright. And that therefore Geller might be committing perjury.
Can anyone else shed more light on this?
I read more about this and the DMCA law. (Again, I'm no lawyer) But what I've gleaned is that YouTube actually isn't held accountable for copyrighted material, so long as they abide by a few rules (Safe Harbor Provisions). Here's a FAQ I've found. There is also a process to get the material returned via a 'counter-notice'. After that, the copyright owner has 14 days to bring up a lawsuit.
This part does seem interesting: "A statement of the accuracy of the notice and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on the behalf of the owner" is required to file the original take-down notice.
Granted, the original posters of the material may not have the means to actually fight this, but I bet the JREF might. Uri might have just thought he could use a scare tactic to get the videos removed. He might also have made a big mistake. (Or if by some odd twist of fate, he does own the copyright to those videos, the situation may become moot under educational fair-use)
ETA: The copyright of one of the removed videos is almost surely owned by Carson Entertainment Group. The video (formerly) found by YouTube value M9w7jHYriFo was removed by Explorologist LTD. In this thread there is a link to that video that shows an image of Uri on The Tonight Show. I bring up the Carson appearance because of the relationship Randi had with Carson and, while the copyrights of other clips may be harder to discern, I would think Carson Entertainment Group would be willing to oblige. Also, I say the material is 'almost surely owned' by the Carson Entertainment Group because they provide "almost all of the footage from 1973 to 1992" for licensing. Uri appeared on Carson in 1973.
YouTube would have that information. Their entire business strategy depends on users supplying material, so one would hope they have an interest in helping out said users.I was thinking about this (I'll spare the long route it took) and I started to wonder.. We can connect Uri to Explorologist STD, but can we connect Explorologist STD to the DMCA take-down sent to YouTube? YouTube (and the law) requires an "electronic signature" but I'm not sure exactly what this means, though I've looked it up, and it seems it might be more at YouTube's discretion. In other words, could someone (a "fan" perhaps) have just signed up for explorologist@yahoo and sent an email to YouTube?
Uri Geller accused of TV trickery
Sunday, 21 January 2007
The self-proclaimed paranormalist is looking for others with his "powers" on Uri Geller Looks for a Successor.
But Israeli magician Eliron Toby said the show "damaged" those who wanted to believe in Geller and Dandi Asraf said there were "no supernatural powers".
Israeli-born Geller said the programme did not involve sleight of hand.
The participants did have supernatural powers capable of performing marvels, he told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
'Mysterious' powers
"I am not a magician and have never been one," Geller said. "I keep my powers mysterious."
"The Successor has damaged those people who want to believe that Geller can heal or help them."
'Just entertainment'
The Israeli Society for Magicians is expected to meet to discuss the show.
The society's president Dalia Peled said: "The society hopes and believes the public understands that this is an entertainment programme and that the acts performed in the show are not done so with the help of supernatural powers."
I'll be taking Youtube to town over this.