EFF Drops Viacom Suit

The EFF announced that its dropping its lawsuit against Viacom on Monday after the company admitted error in issuing a DMCA takedown notice against a YouTube parody of The Colbert Report. The DMCA takedown prompted the EFF to file a lawsuit on behalf of the video's creators, MoveOn.org and Brave New Films. The EFF has now dismissed that suit following action from Viacom.

Photo by Danny Sullivan.

According to the EFF, after initially denying it was the source of the takedown notice, Viacom came clean and issued a formal "my bad, dude." What's more, the company also agreed to a review process, leading the EFF to drop its case:

Viacom moved the ball forward for Internet users' rights. In order to address any similarly erroneous takedown notices in the future, Viacom has agreed to set up a website and email "hotline," promising a review of any complaint within one business day and a reinstatement if the takedown request was in error. In light of these disclosures and commitments -- designed to protect the fair use and free speech rights of Internet users who rely on video sharing sites like YouTube -- MoveOn and BNF have dismissed their claims against Viacom.