In a striking attempt to suppress critical journalism, European Aquatics filed a copyright claim against our video analyzing the disastrous draw for their latest water polo competition. However, their efforts to silence our critique have failed—YouTube has reviewed our counter-notification and reinstated the video, acknowledging that our content falls under fair use.
The Story From the Beginning
European Aquatics, the continental governing body responsible for organizing water polo competitions, recently held a live-streamed draw for one of their major tournaments. Unfortunately, the event was riddled with errors, poor organization, and outright nonsensical moments that called into question the professionalism of the entire process.
As a leading global media platform for water polo, we took it upon ourselves to analyze the draw and highlight these issues in a video. Using footage from the event, we provided critical commentary and breakdowns of the mistakes, aiming to inform and engage the water polo community in a discussion about the state of competition organization.
The Copyright Claim
Shortly after our video was published, European Aquatics attempted to have it removed from YouTube by filing a copyright infringement claim. Their move was an obvious attempt to suppress criticism rather than protect intellectual property. The video in question was clearly transformative, containing added commentary, analysis, and journalistic critique—elements that are protected under fair use laws.
Despite the claim, we stood our ground and submitted a counter-notification to YouTube, arguing that our video was legally justified. We emphasized that:
- The video was transformative, providing analysis rather than merely redistributing the original content.
- The footage used was necessary for critique and did not replace the original event in any way.
- The public interest in transparency and accountability outweighed any potential copyright concerns.
YouTube’s Decision: A Victory for Press Freedom
After reviewing our counter-notification, YouTube determined that the copyright claim was invalid and reinstated our video. This decision is a clear rejection of European Aquatics’ attempt to use copyright as a tool for censorship.
This outcome reaffirms the principle that media outlets have the right to critique public events, especially when they are poorly managed. More importantly, it sends a message that attempts to control the narrative through baseless copyright claims will not succeed.
What This Means for the Future
Once again, European Aquatics’ attempt to silence criticism through copyright abuse has backfired. Not only has our video returned, but the entire controversy has now drawn even more attention to the original issues we highlighted. Instead of addressing the concerns raised by the community, European Aquatics chose to pursue an aggressive and unjustifiable censorship tactic—one that ultimately failed.
If European Aquatics truly wants to improve the perception of their events, they should focus on fixing their organizational failures rather than trying to silence those who point them out.
