Sony thinks it can charge an "administration fee" for fair use

[Master Disaster]

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Mitch Stoltz, over at EFF, has been writing about a ridiculous situation in which Sony Music has been using ContentID to take down fair use videos -- and then to ask for money to put them back up. As Stoltz notes, the videos in question are clearly fair use. They're videos of lectures put on by the Hudson Valley Bluegrass Association, teaching people about bluegrass music. They're hourlong lectures in a classroom setting, that do include snippets of music here and there as part of a lecture, with the music usually less than 30 seconds long.

 

HVBA’s use of clips from old bluegrass recordings is a clear fair use under copyright law. The clips are short, the purpose of the videos is educational, and the group does not earn money from its videos. Plus, no one is likely to forego buying the complete recordings simply because they heard a clip in the middle of an hour-long lecture.

 

Nonetheless, like so many others, HVBA had its videos disappear thanks to a ContentID match on some Sony music. Here's where the story gets much worse than the standard version of this story. HVBA reached out to Sony Music, asking it to release the claim, but Sony Music demanded money, saying it was an "administrative" fee.

 

When HVBA’s webmaster emailed Sony Music to explain that the use of music clips in the lecture videos was fair use,Sony’s representative responded that the label had “a new company policy that uses such as yours be subject to a minimum $500 license fee,” and that “if you are going to upload more videos we are going to have to follow our protocol.” Sony’s representative didn’t say that she believed the video was not a fair use. Instead, she implied that even a fair use would require payment, and that Sony would keep using YouTube’s Content ID system against HVBA until they paid up.

Yep you did just read that right, Sony Music now feels they can charge $500 to allow their material to be used under fair use.

 

They did drop this case after it was publicised but they are sticking to their guns and insisting they are correct in charging for usage under fair use laws.

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Of course, once EFF publicized the story, Sony Music quickly backed down, but not everyone will be able to have their story told by EFF. 

Even worse, even in backing down, Sony Music refused to concede the point, and indicated it still believed that fair use needed to be paid use.

 

A Sony executive emailed HVBA to say that the company “has decided to withdraw its objection to the use of its two sound recordings” and “will waive Sony Music’s administrat[ive] fee.” That sounds like Sony was simply acting out of courtesy, when in fact the company had no right to demand a fee, by any name, for an obvious fair use. Other YouTube users with less knowledge of the law may have been convinced to pay Sony $500 or more, and provide detailed information, for uses of the music that the law makes free to all.

It does make you wonder if Sony Music has been successful in charging this $500 fair use "administrative fee" to others, in a move that would be pure copyfraud. 

Either way, imagine how copyright trolls would react to this kind of situation if it were more global on the internet with a mandated notice and staydown provision. We've already written about cases where people falsely claim copyright on works to get stuff taken down on other sites, but if there's a way to not just censor with that, but also make money, you know it's going to get widely abused. Hell, we've even had a similar situation here, where a small publication in another country (which does not have a fair use regime) sent us a letter objecting to our linking and quoting them without reaching "an agreement." Giving more power to folks like that is a recipe for widespread censorship and shakedowns.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160522/07140134514/sony-thinks-it-can-charge-administraive-fee-fair-use.shtml

 

I just don't even... The level of idiocy sometimes... Are these people even on the same planet as us?

 

I genuinely think Sony Music needs to take a long and deep look at who they've got employed in their legal department very quickly.

[TrigrH]

Nintendo

konami

now sony

 

is this a Japanese thing?

 

 

[Monkeypeas]

4 minutes ago, TrigrH said:

Nintendo

konami

now sony

 

is this a Japanese thing?

 

 

sony music is american

[TrigrH]

4 minutes ago, Monkeypeas said:

sony music is american

yeah a subsidiary of Japanese company Sony..

[Monkeypeas]

2 minutes ago, TrigrH said:

yeah a subsidiary of Japanese company Sony..

based in america, ran by americans, its unfair to blame the japanese for these decisions lol 

[Kimmers]

6 hours ago, TrigrH said:

yeah a subsidiary of Japanese company Sony..

And Dodge is Italian.. /s

[Notional]

The music industry is cancer. Seriously, they have too much power and money to do things like this. Denying ordinary people their rights should result in jail time.

[MrRavens]

Like what the fck!? It's bad enough, but then they charge $500!? Dats da mudda greed shit right there.

[suicidalfranco]

[Lurick]

And these piles of garbage wonder why people downloading music without paying for it continue to do so. Between this and their shit treatment of artists it's kind of astonishing most of the major record labels haven't been wiped out yet.

[M4st4M1nd]

Copyright is insane these days. Really needs a complete overhaul.

[GeekJump]

5 hours ago, Monkeypeas said:

based in america, ran by americans, its unfair to blame the japanese for these decisions lol 

Well I doubt Sony Music US operates completely detached from the Big Boss in Japan.

 

*I tried to make a Konami ref :3....I'll leave now.

[SImoHayha]

If only I had a bigger stick then Sony would back down and so would other companies. CAUSE REMEMBER LADS

BEING A BIG COMPANY MEANS YOU GOT NO MORE RIGHTS ANYMORE TO FIGHT BACK.

[kelvindeschutter]

Sony your drunk go home. but seriously whats this bullshit?

[WelshDdraig]

I don't even... What? Stop the world, I want to get off.

Is Sony Music out of their God damn minds?

I can only hope that if this happens to someone and they know the law, that they decide to take Sony to Court where the claim would be destroyed and Sony possibly fined. That will teach them - I hope. 

[Zodiark1593]

*Content ID flags music that isn't actually their's.*

 

*Charges $500 to actual owners/creators.*

[TheMcSame]

7 hours ago, TrigrH said:

yeah a subsidiary of Japanese company Sony..

Mack is a subsidiary of AB Volvo, doesn't make Mack a Swedish company

Volvo Cars is a subsidiary of Geely, doesn't make Volvo cars a Chinese company

Jaguar Land Rover is a subsidiary of the TATA group, doesn't make Jaguar Land Rover an Indian company.

 

 

OT: 

I think this is similar to a private parking ticket. They're doing it because they know that some people are going to pay it, but there's absolutely no obligation to pay it, and in Sony's case, if the person being hit with the 'fine' isn't going to pay up, they'll just drop the whole thing because the case won't stand up in court. 

 

Not that it makes it any better. It's still a scummy move either way, but I think they're just trying to exploit the idiots out there.

[Megazero]

I dont get why people even surprise about this anymore, or blaming Japan's country. Remember Nestle? The one who said human should not have right to clean water?