Spoon bender Uri Geller attacked by EEF for bending copyright law
By John Pospisil
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a law suit against psychic Uri Geller (pictured) for using “baseless copyright claims” to silence critic Brian Sapient, who uploaded a video critical of Geller to YouTube.
Uri Geller made a name for himself in the 1970s for bending spoons using just his psychic powers, though since then magicians have shown that the same affect can be easily achieved using misdirection techniques.
Brian Sapient belongs to a group called the “Rational Response Squad,” which is dedicated to debunking what it calls irrational beliefs. Group members post videos to YouTube that they say demonstrate this irrationality. One of the videos that Sapient uploaded came from a NOVA program called “Secrets of the Psychics,” which challenges the performance techniques of Geller.
While only three seconds of the over thirteen-minute video contain footage allegedly under copyright owned by Geller’s corporation Explorogist — which the EEF says is a classic fair use of the material for criticism purposes — Geller filed a takedown demand with YouTube under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
According to the EFF, this violates the DMCA requirement that copyright holders only send takedown notices for infringing content.
“Uri Geller may not like it when people question his paranormal abilities. However, he is not allowed to stifle public criticism by misusing the law,” said EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hoffman.
“If the publication of a video does not infringe his copyright, then he cannot block its use, it’s as simple as that.”
Because of Geller’s unlawful DMCA notice, Sapient’s YouTube account was suspended, and his videos were not available for over two weeks.
In its lawsuit EFF asks for damages due to Geller’s violation of the DMCA, a declaratory judgment that the NOVA video does not infringe Geller’s copyrights, and that Geller be restrained from bringing any further legal action against Sapient in connection to the clip.
“We’ve seen a rash of people abusing the DMCA lately, attempting to take down legitimate criticism and commentary online,” said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz.
“To allow thin-skinned public figures like Uri Geller to abuse this system forces critics to remain silent and creates unfair hurdles for free speech to thrive online.”
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