Is Major League Soccer Sending False DMCA Takedown Notices?
Dave writes in with an interesting story suggesting that Major League Soccer is potentially violating the DMCA by issuing a takedown of footage for which it does not own the copyright. The details are a little confusing, and some parts aren’t entirely clear — but from the account at the link, two Major League Soccer teams participated in a separate tournament, called the U.S. Open Cup. The event was not televised at all, despite efforts among fans to provide a streaming webcast. Apparently, at the soccer match, a fight broke out, and the local news covered it, using footage from the game. Following this, some bloggers posted the news stations’ story about the fight on YouTube — at which point MLS sent a DMCA takedown notice. The question is whether or not MLS has copyright over the footage (MLS’s trademarks are meaningless here, as the DMCA only refers to copyright). What is not clear is who took the footage. Considering that the game was not televised and the event itself was not an
