YouTube Restores Romney Ad

YouTube has now restored the Romney Ad it previously took down – see the post just prior to this one.  It is unknown whether YouTube received a Counter-notification from the Romney campaign or whether YouTube independently decided the use was a “fair use.”  A YouTube Spokesman told ARS,

“When we’re notified that a particular video uploaded to our site infringes another’s copyright, we remove the material in accordance with the law. We have a counter notification process in place if a user believes a content owner has misidentified their video, and we reinstate content if a user prevails in that process. We also reinstate videos in cases where we are confident that the material is not infringing, or where there is abuse of our copyright tools.”

It is likely that YouTube made the decision without receiving a Counter-notification – a very dangerous precedent IMHO.