Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal has a column discussing the Viacom v. YouTube case (previously blogged about here). Mr. Mossberg thinks the problem is not confined to the particular dispute between Viacom and YouTube/Google, but rather is indicative of a need for greater guidance in copyright law from Congress. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which was supposed to help to bring copyright law into the digital age, was passed in 1998. Many technologies available now were not even conceived of in 1998, so Mr. Mossberg points out that there is uncertainty with regard to what is and is not permissible under copyright law and the DMCA with regard to these new technologies.

More thoughts on these issues after the jump.

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In a press release today, Viacom, owner of the MTV and Comedy Central television networks (among others), announced it is suing YouTube and its parent company, Google, for copyright infringement. The lawsuit seeks over $1 billion in damages. The parties had been in negotiations for YouTube/Google to have a license to provide Viacom's content on YouTube, but negotiations broke down, and in February, Viacom sent takedown notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to YouTube, asking YouTube to remove 100,000 of Viacom's video clips from the site.

More details of the case and some analysis of the issues involved after the jump.

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Maybe, if you ask Richard Silver. Mr. Silver claims to have invented the dance known as the "Electric Slide" at a disco in 1976. He registered a copyright on his performance of the dance in 2004.

While Mr. Silver's claims may seem dubious (such as, for example, his claims on his website that he also invented break dancing and "the robot" dance), he has, thus far, been vigorous in using copyright law to defend what he perceives are his rights in the dance. For example, he entered into an agreement with Oprah Winfrey's production company, Harpo Productions, Inc., for the Electric Slide to be performed on an episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2006. He has also attempted to get the Ellen DeGeneres Show to pay for a segment that aired in 2006 where Ellen and a group of dancers taught the Electric Slide to her class reunion.

In addition to these, using the power of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Mr. Silver has sent takedown notices to YouTube, the popular video hosting site recently purchased by Google, requesting that all videos depicting the Electric Slide be taken down as infringing his copyright. Some whose videos were taken down have rehosted their videos elsewhere, and plan on fighting back against Mr. Silver.

Regardless of the merits of Mr. Silver's claims, his case shows the potential outer reaches of the DMCA, and, if Mr. Silver's claims prove to be unfounded, the potential abuse of the DMCA by an individual with a copyright registration.

Also, maybe stick to the Chicken Dance at the next wedding reception you attend.

Update (11:10 am): As noted by Public Knowledge, the choreography may have passed into the public domain for failure to timely file the copyright registration. This is a possibility, depending on the facts surrounding the creation of the dance, and one more argument for those on the wrong end of a complaint by Mr. Silver.

TracFone Wireless, the largest seller of prepaid cellular phone service in the United States, has sued the Librarian of Congress and Register of Copyrights, alleging that one of the DMCA exemptions granted last month is unlawful.  Specifically, TracFone is upset about the exemption permitting cellular phone users to "unlock" their phones in order to use them with another service provider.

TracFone makes money by selling phones at fairly low prices and charging more for cellular service to make up the losses on the phone sales.  TracFone has sued companies that "unlocked" their phones in the past, alleging violation of the DMCA.

In its complaint, TracFone alleges that the exemption violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Due Process Clause, and violates the principle of separation of powers.  The first two allegations are based on TracFone's assertion that it did not get adequate notice and opportunity to comment on the proposed exemption.  The separation of powers argument essentially argues that permitting the Copyright Office to provide these exemptions is an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority by Congress.

The third assertion is the most interesting, as if TracFone is successful in its separation of powers argument, then all DMCA exemptions granted by the Copyright Office would likely be nullified on the same grounds.