Logo

Hey, What’s Up with YouTube Taking Down a Popular Video (More Than 6 Million Hits) from YouTube’s Own Jimmy Fallon-‘Tonight Show’ Channel??

Apr 24, 2014  •  Post A Comment

UPDATE at 11:30 p.m. PT on 4-24-2014. We received this statement from a YouTube spokesperson: "When we're notified that a particular video uploaded to our site infringes another's copyright, we expeditiously remove the material in accordance with the law. We have a counter-notification process in place if a user believes a content owner has misidentified their video, and we reinstate content if a user prevails in that process.  We also reinstate videos in cases where we are confident that the material is not infringing, or where there is abuse of our copyright tools." The spokesperson did not give us a statement that dealt specifically with the circumstances of removing the video we write about in this item.

By Chuck Ross

This is weird. Earlier today, Thursday, April 24th, 2014, YouTube took down a popular video that NBC had posted on its YouTube channel dedicated to "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." The video appeared to be down for several hours.

The video is one of a series of parodies that Fallon and his team have done that show NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams rapping. This latest mash-up has Williams rapping Snoop Dogg's 1994 hit "Gin and Juice."

The video debuted on Fallon's show earlier this week, and had more than 6.5 million views when YouTube took it down. If you clicked on the video on the Fallon-Tonight Show channel, here's what popped up: "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Breaking News Video Network, Inc."

screenshot-2-text-only-bria.jpgSince the video is clearly a parody — and thus is protected by the First Amendment — it seems strange that YouTube would have taken it down — especially from one of its own channels. 

We' like to give you an explanation as to why they did, but neither NBC nor YouTube has responded to our email inquiries with any on-the-record comments. As soon as we hear something — if we do — we will update this item and let you know.

Meanwhile, all's well that ends well. The video is back up and it's pretty good. Even better is Williams' droll appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Fallon earlier this week where he complains about the video. It had us LOL. You'll find them both below:

Your Comment

Email (will not be published)