July 28, 2008

McCain MashUp Violates Copyright

Link: Stumper : McCain's Musical Woes Continue.

The McCain mash-up "Obama Love," featuring video clips from news anchors and commentators set to Franki Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" clearly violates copyright. The video clips themselves, of course, are fair use. But the song clearly needs licensing. The extent of the use, the fact that the use does not constitute a parody (of the song itself), the market that exists for licensing this use--all suggest that the use of the song is not fair.

The McCain campaign staff is caught flat-footed yet again. This was a rookie mistake. An alternative--and sleazier--possibility is that they intentionally flouted the law, not wanting to pay large royalties to the copyright owners--and are reasonably happy with the many views they got before the cease and desist notice arrived.

Posted by Anupam Chander on July 28, 2008 at 01:30 PM in Digitization | Permalink