{"id":1143,"date":"2015-02-19T17:00:57","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T22:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/?p=1143"},"modified":"2023-07-25T12:18:09","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T16:18:09","slug":"freeplay-music-infringement-victim-or-copyright-troll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/2015\/02\/freeplay-music-infringement-victim-or-copyright-troll\/","title":{"rendered":"Freeplay Music: Infringement Victim or Copyright Troll?"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to Variety<\/a>, Freeplay Music is suing four multichannel networks (MCNs) on YouTube. These include, AwesomenessTV, Big Frame (owned by AwesomenessTV), BroadbandTV, and Disney\u2019s Maker Studios. Freeplay, a music licensing company, claims that these channels have infringed its\u00a0copyrights in the the music it licenses to consumers. The Company also alleges\u00a0that the defendants refused to negotiate with Freeplay for licenses, and yet\u00a0continued to use the music without the Company’s permission.<\/p>\n

YouTube is no stranger to copyright litigation. Thus, it has developed the Content ID program, \u00a0a system that allows copyright owners to assert rights to infringing material and subsequently request\u00a0for\u00a0the content\u00a0to be removed or to collect corresponding ad revenue. In\u00a02014, YouTube heightened its copyright policies by requiring MCNs to monitor\u00a0their channels for infringement. Therefore, Freeplay claims that the defendnats failed to adequately patrol\u00a0their channels.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, this suit closely comes\u00a0on the heels of another suit involving Freeplay, filed early this month. However, in that case the roles were reversed\u2014with Freeplay on the defensive. The MCNs Machinima and Collective Digital Studio claimed that\u00a0Freeplay acted as a \u201ccopyright troll\u201d\u2014offering its music for free, before it reneged\u00a0on this\u00a0offer and threatened\u00a0legal action if no license agreement was\u00a0signed. While\u00a0Freeplay released some of its content for free, personal use on YouTube in 2013, it did not extend this privilege to MCNs\u2014still requiring a license for these entities to use its music.<\/p>\n

Finally, Freeplay filed its case against the four defendants in the\u00a0U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, while Machinima and Collective Digital Studio brought their suit in the\u00a0Central District of California.\u00a0If the courts’ opinions differ, a deciding vote may be needed to determine ultimate liability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to Variety, Freeplay Music is suing four multichannel networks (MCNs) on YouTube. These include, AwesomenessTV, Big Frame (owned by AwesomenessTV), BroadbandTV, and Disney\u2019s Maker Studios. Freeplay, a music licensing company, claims that these channels have infringed its\u00a0copyrights in the the music it licenses to consumers. The Company also alleges\u00a0that the defendants refused to negotiate 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