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Video shows off exploding Note 7 mod for GTA V, gets hit with copyright claim

We don’t often cover YouTube takedown notices but this one is both current and strange.

A video on YouTube showing off a GTA V mod by HitmanNiko which turns a sticky bomb into a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has been hit with a copyright infringement claim.

Navigating to the video titled “GTA 5 MOD – Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (Bomb)” a few days ago and you would have seen a display of the mod. Going to the video now presents the user with the notice, “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Samsung Electronics America Inc. and its affiliates.”

Now, its not uncommon for YouTube videos to be hit with copyright claims but YouTube states very clearly before a user submits a copyright claim to consider, “whether fair use, fair dealing or a similar exception to copyright applies.”

It’s also not beyond the realm of possibility that a bot trawling for copyright infringements targeted the aforementioned video rather than Samsung targeting it intentionally. Indeed there are still numerous videos showcasing the mod that have not been taken down, yet.

One could argue that using the likeness of the handset is a copyright infringement but fair use has that covered in the first of its four determining factors.

“Courts typically focus on whether the use is “transformative.” That is, whether it adds new expression or meaning to the original, or whether it merely copies from the original,” the guideline reads.

So yes perhaps the handset looks the same but the fact that it can be thrown and explode is most certainly “transformative”. There’s also the fact that when it comes down to the bare bones of this matter, Rockstar Games has more claim to the video than Samsung. Although once again, the videos are protected by fair use.

As we mentioned, it isn’t clear if Samsung targeted this video or if a YouTube bot put the claim in place. If this is a case of the latter it adds to an ever-growing list of things that YouTube should let humans do rather than bots.

[Source – Tech Dirt]

 

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