Many of you know that disgraced Navy chaplain-turned religious right commentator Gordon Klingenschmitt has a bee in his bonnet over People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch posting clips of his unhinged commentary on YouTube. For the last year, Klingenschmitt has filed a series of bogus DMCA takedown claims against PFAW, alleging that PFAW is "stealing" his videos.
PFAW claimed--rightly--that the videos are fair use and part of its ongoing effort to turn the hot lights on the far right. It also pointed out that no one would reasonably believe that PFAW owns the numerous clips it has posted from the likes of Glenn Beck and Pat Robertson. Late yesterday, YouTube sided with PFAW and fully restored Right Wing Watch's YouTube account. For the last few weeks, it had been uploading clips to a backup YouTube account, which so far remains untouched. Well, PFAW has had enough. In the same post announcing that the main Right Wing Watch YouTube account had been restored, PFAW announced that its lawyers at Hogan Lovells have given Klingenschmitt an ultimatum--if the bogus copyright claims don't end and end now, PFAW will have no choice but to take Dr. Chaps to court.
Read the letter Hogan Lovells sent to Klingenschmitt here. This is one ugly letter. After educating Klingenschmitt on what fair use really is, it then calls Klingenschmitt out on his claims that he is really concerned about copyright infringement.
Based on this legal analysis, your conduct and public statements, it appears to PFAW that you have lodged the DMCA notices not out of any genuine concerns for your copyrights, but rather for the purpose of causing YouTube to take down the RWW YouTube channel. You have publicized your campaign, and made clear that your efforts are motivated by your political disagreements with both RWW and some of the independent comments posted on the RWW’s YouTube account.
Something I didn't know--DMCA provides for remedies against takedown notices that are either frivolous or intended to silence protected speech. If Klingenschmitt doesn't stop this lunacy, PFAW intends to sue for damages and send Klingenschmitt the bill for its legal expenses.
For his part, Klingenschmitt insists he isn't backing down. In an interview with David Parkman, Klingenschmitt states that he fully intends to keep filing takedown notices. Pass the popcorn.