A Society on Lockdown?

That is essentially what the copyright situation could become if this case does not serve its purpose in defending the people's right of fair use of others' materials. It has been emphasized time and again that the video in question was a short, low-quality home video of primarily a dancing baby, who just happened to be dancing to a Prince song that viewers can identify only if they listen closely. This harmless video was served with a takedown notice and if the courts allow this kind of action to take place without repercussions for violating the fair use doctrine, then this could set a precedent for others to closely guard their copyrighted material. There would be no harm done in sending out excessive takedown notices so they have little to lose in case these notices are deemed inappropriate.

Right now on Youtube, there are millions of videos that use copyrighted materials in homemade videos. Just a simple search for 'Single Ladies' by Beyonce or 'Crank That' by Soulja Boy results in a countless number (probably too many) of these kinds of videos of people dancing to the songs. Some are amazing and may even impress the original artists themselves while others are atrocious and should never ever be viewed by anyone on Earth. But, ALL could be deemed as violations of copyright and served with takedown notices if this case is unable bolster fair use as it should.

Then our society could be transformed into one where people's ideas and work have the ultimate in exclusivity and there would be little in the way of building on or improving each other. People's freedoms, inspirations, and creativity would be limited to working only with original ideas and never derivations unless they were able to pay for or otherwise obtain a license. This would be far too strict of a society in terms of digital and intellectual property laws, a situation we most certainly want to avoid. If all those videos on Youtube ever have to come down, then where would students turn to for hours of time-wasting entertainment to avoid doing legitimate schoolwork? They would be forced to actually study, a scary scenario which we must prevent at all costs.