The takedown of the Downfall meme
It’s a bit old now, but I was a bit surprised that no one on the blog has mentioned the mass removals of Hitler Downfall parodies on YouTube (although I think it was mentioned on Noise). For the uninitiated, this is a meme involving modifying the subtitles in a scene from the movie Downfall, where Hitler is angrily ranting at his flunkies. He’s gotten very angry over things ranging from the faulty hardware on his XBox to the choice of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate. There are (were) hundreds of these parody videos on YouTube, the first of which appeared in 2006, with many of them reaching hundreds of thousands of views. On April 20th, Constantin Films, which owns the copyright for the original movie had YouTube remove many of the videos.
When I first read about this story, I had (like many other initial reporters) assumed that DMCA takedown notices were sent to the creators of these parody videos. Perhaps like Lenz v. Universal, the parody video creators would then file a counternotice. However, it seems like a different process was actually used, with YouTube using software called “Content ID”. This technology automatically removes videos containing copyrighted content (based on some sort of audio/video signature within the file), regardless of if the video contains elements that make it a noninfringing use (like Fair Use). This article has a good breakdown of the events.
Since this happened, a number of bloggers have written about the issue, arguing that parodying the scene is constitutes Fair Use. A number of the original videos do seem to be back up. And, like many internet memes, the Hitler Downfall meme has become incredibly self-referential. At least two Hitler Downfall parody videos have been produced addressing the takedown of other Hitler Downfall parody videos, both of which are still available on YouTube. One of them was created by Brad Templeton, an EFF chairman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzUoWkbNLe8. In it, Hitler is the one ordering DMCA takedown notices on Hitler Downfall parody videos, while his lackies try sticking up for Fair Use. Templeton also has a very interesting blog post about the difficulties he had in creating his own parody video, which discusses not only Fair Use but also how he had to use a loophole to avoid circumventing the encryption on his DVD.
Somewhat more amusing, I think, is a parody video created by someone with the username Plankhead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBO5dh9qrIQ. In this version, it’s Hitler who is complaining about the takedown of the other parody videos. He brings up how parody is fair use and not an infringement of copyright as well as the chilling effects of the “broken” DMCA takedown notice procedure. Hitler even explicitly cites Title 17 USC Section 107.
In the end though, I haven’t seen much action about this issue since the initial ruckus a few weeks ago. As Plankhead’s Hitler laments, “Everyone’s gonna get upset about how corporations can illegally take down parodies. But tomorrow, they’ll forget all about it and watch cat videos.”
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