Is Major League Soccer Sending False DMCA Takedown Notices?

Dave writes in with an interesting story suggesting that Major League Soccer is potentially violating the DMCA by issuing a takedown of footage for which it does not own the copyright. The details are a little confusing, and some parts aren’t entirely clear — but from the account at the link, two Major League Soccer teams participated in a separate tournament, called the U.S. Open Cup. The event was not televised at all, despite efforts among fans to provide a streaming webcast. Apparently, at the soccer match, a fight broke out, and the local news covered it, using footage from the game. Following this, some bloggers posted the news stations’ story about the fight on YouTube — at which point MLS sent a DMCA takedown notice. The question is whether or not MLS has copyright over the footage (MLS’s trademarks are meaningless... [read full story]