Stephen Colbert Parodies on YouTube = Legal

 By 
Pete Cashmore
 on 
Stephen Colbert Parodies on YouTube = Legal
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If you want to parody Stephen Colbert clips on YouTube, go right ahead: Viacom admitted today that it had made an error by pulling a parody clip during its YouTube cleansing, and the lawsuit against Viacom by the EFF was dropped.

Viacom used the DMCA to pull down more than 100,000 clips, but the Electronic Frontier Foundation complained that the takedown had included those clips that are allowed under fair use - including the Colbert parody. Viacom is also setting up an "email hotline" for those who have their clips pulled without merit. Viacom's release today, meanwhile, was along the lines of "woulda been nice if you'd sent a letter before suing us". (Essentially that the case wouldn't have happened if the EFF had been more communicative beforehand.)

The parody is below - it's pretty funny, and seems to be inspired by Outfoxed, the documentary that highlights the biases of Fox News. The Colbert Report, of course, is largely a parody of Fox News.

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