File sharing site MegaUpload has recently been in the sights of both the RIAA and MPAA for hosting copyrighted content. In an ironic (and immensely satisfying) twist, a new video surfaced today from artists whom the RIAA claim to represent that sings the praises of MegaUpload.
The video was commissioned by MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom and features the likes of P. Diddy, Kanye West, Will.i.am, Snoop Dogg, Alicia Keys, Jamie Foxx, Lil John, and more.
The video went viral very quickly, making it to Twitter’s trending topics within a short amount of time – and then Universal Music stepped in.
The original video, published on Kim Dotcom’s own YouTube account, was taken down due to a copyright claim by UMG, despite having absolutely no “stolen” content whatsoever.
“UMG did something illegal and unfair by reporting Mega’s content to be infringing. They had no right to do that. We reserve our rights to take legal action. But we’d like to give them the opportunity to apologize,” Dotcom told TorrentFreak .
After filing a copyright claim dispute the video was temporarily brought back, only to be taken down again.
“We filed a dispute, the video came back online and now it’s blocked again by UMG and the automated YouTube system has threatened to block our account for repeat infringement,” Kim explained.
Casey Rae-Hunter, Deputy Director at Future of Music Coalition, chimed in the incident, pointing out a blatant violation of the artists’ speech rights.
“The fact that this expression could be silenced by a major label — without any apparent infringement — should be seriously troubling to anyone who cares about artists’ speech rights,” says Casey Rae-Hunter, Deputy Director, Future of Music Coalition. “If this can happen to Snoop Dogg and others, it can happen to anyone.”
To see what the fuss is all about for yourself, check out the “Mega Song” directly below.
