Sony files DMCA takedown against Creative Commons video

James Delahunty
6 Apr 2014 11:57

Sony Pictures has filed a DMCA takedown against 'Sintel', a 2010 short film released by the Blender Foundation with all materials available under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
The Blender Foundation develops and promotes the open source 3D graphics program Blender. It is a non-profit organization, funded by donations with the stated goal of providing the Internet community with access to 3D technology.
To showcase what you can do with Blender, the Blender Foundation has released several movies since 2006 that were developed with the system.
The latest movie is Sintel, which was released in 2010 and has been available on YouTube ever since, until now. Trying to view the video on YouTube now results instead in a notification that the video contains content from Sony Picture Movies and Shows.

Of course, there is one slight problem; Sony Pictures does not own the film or anything in it. All the materials used to make the short film were original materials, and have been licensed as Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, so you can freely share the material.
The DMCA is most likely an error, but it brings up an important question surrounding DMCA takedowns on sites like YouTube; is it OK that videos can be so easily removed with DMCA takedown requests?

Sources and Recommended Reading:
Sony Demands Removal of Open-Source Indie Short 'Sintel' From YouTube: www.cartoonbrew.com
Website for Sintel Project: www.sintel.org
The Blender Foundation website: www.blender.org/foundation/‎