Local San Francisco television news station KTVU has embarked on a novel use of copyright law to cover up embarrassing footage. It has been issuing takedown notices to YouTube for videos showing its anchor literally reading fake names of pilots involved in the recent airline crash at San Francisco International Airport.
The wrong names of the pilots for Asiana flight 214 that anchor Tori Campbell read on air were “Captain Sum Ting Wong,” Wi Tu Lo,” “Ho Lee Fuk” and “Bang Ding Ow.”
Some of the YouTube videos, uploaded from last week’s newscast, leave behind a message: “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by KTVU.”
While many of the videos of the segment were still live on Google-owned YouTube, the reason why the Fox affiliate has been demanding their removal doesn’t concern copyright.
“The accidental mistake we made was insensitive and offensive. By now, most people have seen it. At this point, continuing to show the video is also insensitive and offensive, especially to the many in our Asian community who were offended. Consistent with our apology, we are carrying through on our responsibility to minimize the thoughtless repetition of the video by others,” the station’s general manager and vice president, Tom Raponi, told Mediabistro today.
More than 180 were injured and three were killed July 6 when the Boeing 777 slammed on the tarmac.
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, owners of websites where the content is user-generated are obligated to remove copyrighted material at the rights holder’s request, or face the same potential penalties as the uploader. A successful copyright lawsuit carries damages as high as $150,000 per violation.
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