Rita Espinoza has created a 5-minute video and uploaded it to YouTube. In the video, Rita has used a 30-second clip of music from Latin jazz musician Tito Puente. She did not seek permission to use this copyrighted music. Sony/BMG, the copyright holder of Puente’s music, files suit against both Rita Espinoza and YouTube alleging copyright infringement. Upon hearing of the lawsuit, YouTube notifies Rita that it will remove her video and does so within several days of notification of the lawsuit. Rita argues that her inclusion of copyrighted music is not copyright infringement because it is a “fair use” of the material. YouTube claims that it should be exempt from the lawsuit because it complied with “notice and takedown” exemptions in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Assess Rita Espinoza’s argument that her inclusion of Tito Puente’s music in her video is a “fair use.” Is this a legitimate claim? What evidence might she use to back her claim? Consider the 4 elements the courts use to determine whether an infringement has occurred found at this URL: https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/four-factors/
Discuss YouTube’s argument that it has complied with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Remember to provide any legal precedent or other evidence that YouTube can use in its defense. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE4YXHgiya0 and the Guide to YouTube Content Removal Policy at: https://www.eff.org/issues/intellectual-property/guide-to-youtube-removals
Will Espinoza be successful in her defense? Why or why not? Will YouTube be successful in its defense? Why or why not?
Please answer these questions and provide a general discussion of your thoughts and perspectives in 1-2 pages. Provide a clear articulation of your interpretation of these legal principles, using clarity of thought, organization, thoroughness of analysis, and general grammatical correctness. You will want to review these resources before attempting to answer these questions.

Hypothetical 2. Please answer the following questions about this hypothetical copyright case.

Schools and universities generally have been facing a growing problem of plagiarism off the internet. Seeing an opportunity to make some money by filling a niche, defendant D sets up a website called “findtheplagiarist.com”. High schools and universities can join D’s network for an annual fee per institution. Teachers and professors from member institutions can submit for analysis electronic copies of class or term papers that have been handed in by students, for a per-paper charge. D then, using his special software, analyzes each paper submitted and compares it to D’s growing database of papers as well as material found at other web sites. Any paper submitted for checking is automatically included in D’s database, whether the student has authorized such retention or not. D’s software is highly creative in its use of algorithms to detect similarities between papers, even where there has been substantial alteration by paraphrasing or similar efforts at disguise. D’s database is not available to anyone other than employees of D, meaning that no one, including institutional members, can download any of the papers stored in the database. However, whenever similarities are found between a submitted paper and one found in the database, the similar portions are printed out for comparison purposes in D’s report.
P is a high school student who has just learned that her paper was submitted to findtheplagiarist.com (the report on her paper was “clean,” meaning that D found no evidence of plagiarism) and that a copy of her paper remains in D’s database. P registers a copyright in her paper and brings a copyright infringement action against D. D argues that even if P is the copyright owner and even if D’s storing P’s paper in D’s database constitutes copyright infringement (that is, putting aside any claims that the institutions were somehow empowered to license D’s use), D is not liable because including P’s paper in the database is a “fair use.”

You are the judge. What are your thoughts on this? Which side are you on? What would be your fair decision in this case?
Is P’s paper in the database considered a “fair use?” Consider the 4 elements the courts use to determine whether an infringement has occurred found at this URL: https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/four-factors/
Will D be successful in their defense? Why or why not? Will institution be liable? Why or Why not?