Copyfascism Watch

Unsurprisingly, the Union Square Partnership (USP) utilized the egregious violation of basic rights that is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to shut down a website parodying its own official website. Savitri Durkee, an activist concerned about preserving the character of Union Square and Union Square Park, created a website that parodied USP's redevelopment efforts in the area. In response, USP sent a DMCA takedown notice to her internet service provider claiming that her free speech infringed their copyright. Additionally, not only did they filed a copyright lawsuit against Durkee, they seek to gain control of her domain name through a claim filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

In her battle to protect her abridged rights, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has stepped in to represent Durkee against USP's baseless litigation. From the EFF:

EFF today filed a response to USP's complaint on Durkee's behalf, pointing out that Durkee's parody is protected under the First Amendment and fair use doctrine. The response includes counterclaims asking the court to declare that her site does not infringe USP's trademarks and to prevent USP from taking control of Durkee's domain name, as well as to find that USP's complaint was intended to stifle legitimate political speech. Durkee is also seeking compensation for the abridgement of her speech.

"Union Square is where the U.S. labor movement was born and where abolitionists, suffragettes, civil right activists and many others have fought for and exercised their First Amendment rights," said Durkee. "It's ironic that USP is now trying to keep me from using my parody website to speak out about the future of Union Square."

LINK TO PRESS RELEASE >>

Baseless copyright infringement claims under the DMCA is all too common as evidenced by the EFF in their comprehensive white paper, Unintended Consequences: Ten Years under the DMCA. Too often, the DMCA is used by those wishing to silence their critics. Internet service providers and content aggregators are usually quick to comply to infringement notices lest they be forced to pay excessive statutory damages to claimants. But particularly odious is USP's attempt to wrest control of Durkee's electronic property in their claim filed with the WIPO. This is copyfascism at its very abominable.

Durkee, however, is in luck. The Constitution and several landmark cases are on her side. One of the most recent case, as well as being an EFF victory, is Frankel v. Lyons. In that case, the federal courts asserted than Stuart Frankel's website parodying Barney was non-infringing speech.

Related Links:
http://www.eff.org/cases/usp-v-durkee