This is a very good thing.

In the case in question, a parent uploaded a video of their kid dancing to a song by Prince, and because there was 30 seconds of the song in the background, Universal Music issued a DMCA take down notice.

The Judge said that they can’t simply determine that it is their material, but whether it is legal or not:

“Fair use is a lawful use of a copyright,” the judge wrote. “Accordingly, in order for a copyright owner to proceed under the DMCA with ‘a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law,’ the owner must evaluate whether the material makes fair use of the copyright.”

The video of the kid is below…It’s 30 seconds long, and I can’t even recognize the song.

The judge says that, “The Court has considerable doubt that Lenz will be able to prove that Universal acted with the subjective bad faith,” but if I were on the jury I’d vote for the muthas to fry.