Minneapolis PD Issues Questionable DMCA Notice To Bury Its Controversial Recruitment Video
from the the-system-works/fails-again dept
The only way to make "bad optics" surrounding a questionable recruiting video vanish is to make the bad video vanish first, right? That's obviously what the Minneapolis Police Department believes. It has nuked its controversial recruiting video from DMCA orbit, netting citizen journalist Wedge Live a copyright strike for preserving something the MPD would rather just went away.
Twitter user Tony Webster pointed out the end result of the MPD's efforts, which removed the video formerly located here (Update: as this story started to get press attention, it appears that the Minneapolis PD has rescinded its takedown).
Fortunately for us -- and less fortunately for the MPD -- the video has been uploaded to Vimeo by Wedge Live, where it presumably awaits another questionable DMCA takedown notice from the police department.
The MPD used to be quite proud of its video, until it generated some complaints about its aggressive imagery. The video opens with two poorly thought out shots. In one, a man in military gear pointing an assault rifle morphs into an MPD officer… carrying an assault rifle.
The other shows a female beginning to throw a softball, which then morphs into a female police officer… pointing a gun at the camera.
Neither of these opening shots do much to set the stage for the rest of the video, which is the usual assortment of talking heads and officers-in-action shots after that point. Nonetheless, the MPD does not host the video at its own YouTube channel, and on July 13 removed its link to the video from its own recruitment page.
The archived version contains a link to the video. (And the link still works, but it's not hosted at YouTube.)
The updated version does not.
If it wasn't for the MPD's efforts to remove all traces of the video, this might have been chalked up to just a misguided effort to flex copyright muscle over something that was created with public funds and should, generally speaking, belong to the public, rather than the police department.
But, considering the MPD has removed the link from its own webpage, it looks a whole lot more like an agency abusing the DMCA takedown system to remove something it considers to be less-than-flattering, especially in light of the Philando Castile shooting -- in which an officer killed Castile for attempting to produce the ID the officer had just asked for. Castile was carrying a gun, but had a concealed carry permit and had informed the officer of the fact. When he reached for his ID, the officer shot him four times. The aftermath of the shooting -- as Castile died in his car next to his girlfriend and her daughter -- was streamed live to Facebook.
So, it's not surprising the MPD would want its recruiting video to vanish, seeing as it opens up in an aggressive and militarized manner. Unfortunately, the web doesn't forget just because the DMCA process has been abused. The MPD will have to live with its poor decisions for much longer than it planned to.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: censorship, copyright, dmca, minneapolis, minneapolis pd, police, recruiting video
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The problem here is clearly...socialism
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: The problem here is clearly...socialism
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
this just illustrates how out-of-touch police have become in this great and free land of ours. or used to be when our forefathers had their collective hand on the switch.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Piss poor propaganda.
"He he he This job is the best kept secret... just sit back and enjoy the ride." The shooting the unarmed citizens ride? The choke someone to death ride? The confiscate video recordings then eat pot laced food ride? Which "ride" would that be flat-foot?
At 0:26... What was he Obi-Wan before he became a cop?
It's a very select group? None with too high an IQ. Yeah, real select alright.
"share a bond of commitment to Honor and nurture the trust of people in the communities they serve." ROFL... tell us moar oh announcer from the 80's.
"And our values hold honesty, integrity, and the protection of human rights in the highest regard."
Until we shoot an unarmed citizen, then all that feel good bullshit we just tried to sell you goes out the window while we ransack businesses for video footage and hold their owners captive with no charges for hours and hours.
"Sworn to serve" Each other. All you pee-on citizens f off.
What a complete joke. No wonder they want this gone.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
The police department just wanted to show that ex military can come home and work for them same with everyday people like the softball mom.
Did it portray images that might be misconstrued? You bet, but it's all about your intentions. The police department can remove their references to the video or even better put on the site why they don't want to use the video anymore. However they can't claim copyright of the video since it is in the public domain.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
A Message for the MPD
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
therr wuz a feller by the name of jimmy blaine
took a shotgun and blowed out all his brains
got a job where he needs no brains, of course
he's a flatfoot on the local po-lice force.
maybe that would churn the butter better for them.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Copyright?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Copyright?
Federal copyright law's exemption on gov't works technically only applies to the federal government. Many believe that state works should similarly be exempt from copyright, but the law does not say that. Unfortunately.
is there an overall guideline on state-related agencies and their ability to produce3 copyrighted materials?
Actually, I just discovered this resource today from Harvard:
http://copyright.lib.harvard.edu/states/
Here's Minnesota. It does not score well.
http://copyright.lib.harvard.edu/states/minnesota/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
That seems to be the sort of workforce they desire. As the honest ones get forced out.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The MPD should not have taken down the video, and the video itself is not some super scary, police hyper militarism propaganda piece that the malcontents make it out to be. Just leave it be.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
It was probably less aggressive when the video was made than it is now. The problem with that image is context -- in this day and age, the militarization of the police is an enormous problem that is costing innocent lives. That image looks like it's portraying the militarization as if it were a good and positive thing.
However, I agree that the video itself isn't terribly problematic. The problematic thing is the police using the DMCA to try to keep it a secret.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]