Curiosity may have landed safely on the surface of Mars, but like all good things, it’s not invulnerable to completely bogus DMCA takedown requests.
Shortly after the rover’s momentous touchdown, NASA posted a choice clip from the control room to its official YouTube channel for interested viewers who missed the real deal for whatever reason. Then, shortly after, the video was rendered unavailable due to a copyright claim by Scripps Local News. Wait, who?
If it wasn’t enough that this was official NASA video posted on the official NASA channel, documenting one of the most important moments in space exploration, there’s another fun detail: NASA doesn’t ever copyright its footage, a detail that apparently escaped Scripps in its zealous takedown spree. The video has since gone back up, but it stands as a particular egregious example of the way YouTube’s Content ID system allows third parties to shoot first and ask questions later when it comes to takedowns. [Motherboard.tv]