A federal judge has given Universal Music Group until the end of the day Thursday to respond to the accusation that the DMCA takedown process was abused to censor the promotional music video by locker site Megaupload.
There is no love lost between the recording industry of America and Megaupload is based in Hong Kong. The RIAA called Megaupload “services” that are “thumb their noses at international law, all the while pocketing a significant advertising revenues from free trade, without the permission of copyrighted material.”
So the label executives certainly upset on Friday when the site launched a new promotional video locker, featuring some of the music industry’s biggest names who sang the praises of the site. One of the label, Universal Music Group, went one step further and begin to file a takedown notice.
The legal basis for the request takedown is unclear. Megaupload says that music and art in the original video, and that it has signed an agreement with all those who appear in them. Initial reports suggest that said that he “spoke directly with will.i.am”, and asserts that the artist “really has not authorized the delivery of notice of takedown on his behalf.”
On Monday, Megaupload