Americans no longer can watch a powerful Internet video that links leading liberals to the current American financial crisis thanks to Warner Music Group, whose leader contributed to one of the officials criticized in the video. The video, titled "Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis," spread virally via YouTube late last week, generating hundreds of thousands of views via links from The Drudge Report and numerous blogs, including high-profile sites like Instapundit and Hot Air. It had been viewed more than a million times before being yanked over a copyright-infringement claim. The 10-minute video, compiled by an anonymous user dubbed "TheMouthPeace," features a rapid-fire succession of news clippings and historical analysis that show how a 1997 housing law pushed by then-President Clinton led to the current crisis. It casts blame on everyone from Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Warner Music objected to the video because of clips from its songs that were used as background music. Of the seven clips used in the video, four come from tunes owned by Warner -- "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits, "Burning Down The House" by the Talking Heads, "Moneytalks" by AC/DC, and "Eye Of The Tiger" by Survivor. (The other clips come from "Free Fallin'" by John Mayer, "Holding Out For A Hero" by Bonnie Tyler, and "Save Me" by Remy Zero.) But Warner Music and YouTube are going to have a tough time keeping this compelling report on the nation's financial crisis out of the public eye. TheMouthPeace has uploaded the video to YouTube again. Other YouTube users also have republished the video, ostensibly adding a copyright-infringement claim by in effect claiming the original video creator's work as their own. Blogs For John McCain is among the sites pointing to that version. The video bears a note to copyright holders that says, "I respectfully claim safe harbor under the fair-use doctrine" of copyright law, which allows reproductions for various reasons. "This video is of a non-commercial, educational nature." Warner Music and YouTube also could have a tough time enforcing copyright law in this case because all of the music used in the bailout video is available elsewhere on YouTube. (Follow the links above for examples.) Another fact worth noting: Edgar Bronfman, the head of Warner Music, is a Democratic campaign contributor. Among other donations, he gave $2,300 to Dodd's presidential campaign last November, and he contributed to the Democratic campaign committees for both the House and Senate. A commenter at American Thinker also noted: "YouTube is owned by Google. Warner Music Group is owned by Time Warner. Google and Time Warner are two of [Obama's] biggest financial contributors." UPDATE: The second version of the video by TheMouthPeace now has been removed because of a copyright claim by Universal Music Group. A battle of copyright wills appears to be brewing. UPDATE II: TheMouthPeace's video is back online with new music -- and a new political message at the front: "They tried to ban this video. We can only guess why. Maybe Time Warner, who gave Barack Obama $338,527, have never read the fair-use doctrine. ... And political speech is still free -- at least until January. Google 'Obama truth squads' in Missouri.
