Radio Station Uses Copyright Claim To Try To Silence Bad Science Critic; Guess What Happens?

from the streisand-is-calling dept

A whole bunch of folks are sending this one in, so let's get it covered. Ben Goldacre writes the excellent BadScience blog where he exposes those promoting (you guessed it) "bad science." It's been a great resource in the past. Earlier this week, he took on a radio program in the UK, hosted by Jeni Barnett. Apparently, Barnett went on at length bringing up numerous highly questionable points siding with the rising tide of anti-immunization parents (who refuse to have their children immunized from things such as measles, mumps and rubella). Goldacre posted a 44-minute clip of the show to let his readers understand the extent of what Barnett had said, making sure that nothing he was talking about was taken out of context.

Of course, rather than respond to this, perhaps by at least trying to back up what Barnett had said, LBC just sent a takedown notice using the typical threatening legal talk, demanding that it be removed immediately, that the lawyers be informed -- and making it clear that they still might sue him anyway. So, what's been the response? Well, a ton of sites have picked up on the story, giving a lot more attention to both Barnett's "bad science" and LBC's unwillingness to be open to any criticism. Hello, Streisand Effect.

This is, quite clearly, another example of copyright being used, not to "protect" the creator's rights, but to prevent free speech and try (and fail, miserably) to quiet public dissent. We've seen this thing backfire so many times, it makes you wonder why big companies and their expensive lawyers somehow still think it works.

Filed Under: anti-immunization, bad science, ben goldacre, copyright, jeni barnett, takedown
Companies: lbc