YouTube and Fair Use

A couple of weeks ago I was walking up Queen St in Auckland and came across some young people break dancing in Aotea Square. Some of them were pretty good.

I had my 3D camera with me (Fujifilm Finepix Real 3D W3) and I shot some stills and video. Later, I made a video of the best efforts by the best dancers and uploaded it to YouTube. Two days later they notified me I had infringed copyright because of the music the kids were playing on their sound system. YouTube restricted the ability to see my video on some platforms (mobile, in particular) and in some countries. They advised me I could dispute the claim if I wished.

I definitely wished.

The videos were recordings of a spontaneous, unorganised, non-profit event in a public place. The sound track includes chatter, clapping, cheers and laughter. The segments of the video aren't in chronological order. Parts of several songs are included and not necessarily in the order in which the incidental music was played by the dancers. I have no idea who the artists are or what the names of the songs might be.

If this isn't Fair Use....then YouTube have allowed it to be killed by the RIAA.

I have disputed this claim. I don't know how long the disputes process takes, so will be interested to find out. I'll post more information as it comes to hand. 

Here is the disputed video. [Update: I deleted the video off YouTube. You can see it at 3DF33D.TV if you're interested]

(The embedded player doesn't seem to include 3D support. You may wish to click through to YouTube for other 3D modes.)

VIDEO DELETED