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YouTube bans anti-Creationism group for DMCA takedown complaint

23 September 2007 19:14 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 5 comments

YouTube, the world's largest video sharing site owned by Google Inc., has raised some eyebrows by banning the accounts of a group known as the Rational Response Squad after it complained that its videos were being taken down by spurious DMCA requests from Creationists. The group argues that its videos contained material either public domain, covered by fair use, or entirely self-produced.

The Creation Science Evangelism Ministries is responsible for the copyright complaints. It was founded by the now-imprisoned tax evader, Kent Hovind. While the videos offered by the Rational Response Squad may have contained quotes or arguments made by Creationists, the Creation Science Evangelism Ministries' websites state, "none of the materials ... are copyrighted, so feel free to copy these and distribute them freely."

This shows a major problem with the current state of the DMCA that has been felt by many many video uploaders; it puts the responsibly on the accused parties to show that its material is non-infringing after a DMCA takedown notice is complied with. For U.S. citizens that are somehow unaware or users from other territories around the world, there is a constant battle in the U.S. between proponents of Evolutionary Theory and Creationism (or as its now commonly known, Intelligent Design or I.D.).

Creationism (or I.D.) is the belief that a higher power (God) created human beings and all the life on Earth (as well as the Earth and Universe) a few thousand years ago. Evolution is a theory that the process of "natural selection" lead from single-cell life forms which formed over 4 billion years ago on an early Earth and slowly developed to complex life such as humans. The online video revolution is a major host of the debate.

Source:
Wired blog

Permalink to this article | Topics: Lawsuits & Legislation Online video

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Discuss this article!
eLeCTR0n (Member) 28 September 2007 16:28
why can't they investigate the rights and permanently ban or repost them? [ + quote]
wetsparks (Member) 28 September 2007 22:09
because that would take effort, easier to just take the movie down. [ + quote]
eLeCTR0n (Member) 28 September 2007 22:32
well that's stupid. they should. now it's this video. who knows what's next. [ + quote]
dave817 (Newbie) 29 September 2007 4:27
Everyone that has a copy of these videos should repost them with a slight personalization so matching algorithms can't easily find them. Let the stone-age superstitious freaks search U-Tube from now until their wizard comes back to earth. At least it will keep them away from the family planning clinics, and hopefully away from the voting booths! [ + quote]
eLeCTR0n (Member) 29 September 2007 9:47
you-tube might people actually searching for banned videos so they would still find them unless reposters get really creative but then it would make hard for other people to find them too. [ + quote]