The mainstream music industry has made some strange moves over the last few years - but asking YouTube to remove this video of a dancing baby, because Prince's Let's Go Crazy is playing in the background, may be the strangest.

Universal Music had YouTube yank the video back in 2007 because of the fact the Prince's music could be heard in the background and the song had not been licensed or cleared.

While it's understandable that Universal wants to protect its performance rights - asking YouTube to delete everyone's family videos anytime a song happens to be audible in the background struck many as being a bit overzealous.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit group that defends Internet freedoms, agreed, so it sued Universal to get the dancing baby restored.

"Universal's takedown notice doesn't even pass the laugh test," said EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry. "Copyright holders should be held accountable when they undermine non-infringing, fair uses like this video."

As you can see above, the dancing baby is back on YouTube, Prince and all, and US District Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled last Thursday that Universal can be liable for legal fees in the case, which are already in the hundreds of thousands. 

What do you think of this strange fiasco? Are you glad to see common sense rule the day - or mad to see hundreds of thousands of dollars going to lawyers instead of musicians?

Links:

• Law.com: Universal May Have to Pay the Piper Over Takedown of Dancing Baby
• EFF

James Lewin
Twitter @podcasting_news

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