The McCain campaign’s efforts to have YouTube deal with DMCA takedown notices directed to its commercials uploaded to the video sharing site differently from other content owners have been rebuffed. Recent commercials have featured clips taken from CBS News and other news sources, which the campaign argues is a fair use of the material. Rather than file a counter-notice as allowed by the DMCA, the campaign instead has written a letter requesting expedited review of their fair use claims.
To their credit, YouTube’s response acknowledges the urgency of the McCain campaign’s situation, but reminds them that there are alternative solutions. The company will not favor any one political candidate, which I believe is the right solution. The law is clear regarding the available options, and making an end run around the counter-notification provisions is not one of them.
Here’s a link to a good article written by Declan McCullagh if you would like to read more about this situation.