LAS VEGAS — The recent Lenz v. Universal case demonstrates that there is a need for greater protection for fair use and a DMCA abuse statute with real teeth, according to a new paper authored by industry attorney Marc Randazza.
In the 39-page paper published in the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law, Randazza discusses the issues of fair use and DMCA reform in the context of the Lenz case and then provides a statutory proposal to resolve the problem — in large part making the remedies for violating fair use rights essentially equivalent to the remedies for violating copyrights in the first place.
“Section 512(f) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is designed to discourage abuse of the DMCA takedown process,” Randazza notes in the paper’s abstact. "’Abuse’ includes failing to simply consider the application of fair use. However, fair use is a right, not a privilege, and the current version of Section 512(f) is too weak to fully protect fair use, and fair use itself does not have adequate protections under the law.”
Randazza of Randazza Legal Group told XBIZ that adult entertainment producers often engage themselves in the issues of fair use — “especially when they create productions that are based on other works,” he said.
“On the enforcement side of things, they are probably the most pirated segment of the entertainment industry, and thus have the most use for 512(f),” he said.
“However, ultimately, stronger fair use does not mean less profits — it means more robust protection for freedom of expression, and that is always a very good thing for the porn industry.”
Randazza’s paper, “Lenz v. Universal: A Call to Reform Section 512(f) of the DMCA and to Strengthen Fair Use,” can be downloaded here.