Two weeks ago, I sent a letter to Mr. Kurt Opsahl, a senior staff attorney at the EFF. I was seeking help for anyone that might be able to have any video restored to YouTube that Benny Hinn removed by legal force. I feel some if not all of the videos are covered under Fair Use. Below is a copy of the e-mail I sent. So far I have not received any response.

Another YouTube DMCA related matter that could use the EFF’s assistance

Dear Mr. Opsahl,

I am a former EFF member, who saw the work you did for Michelle Malkin. Myself and some others have encountered a similar issue, but on a much grander scale.

We as Christians have been working very hard to expose those who we find attempting to leverage Christian faith for the sake of their own personal profit. Exposing people such as Benny Hinn, who has abused faith for his own enrichment and even left some of our loved ones thinking he is something that he certainly is not.

We were using YouTube videos of him in his own words to expose him. Hinn had at least 75 and possibly over 100 YouTube videos removed recently. Some had footage of him and some did not have any footage of him at all. The amount of footage in videos of him varied from a full 10 minute video, to just simply having a picture of him or his voice. All were removed. I am certain, given Benny Hinn operates as a not-for profit, that most if not all of the videos are allowable under Fair Use.

I’ve detailed Hinn’s efforts to remove videos in posts on my blog at http://www.independentconservative.com/2007/04/28/benny_claims_dmca_violation/
and
http://www.independentconservative.com/?p=1353 (Here I list in detail 75 videos that have been removed.)

I can provide you with a copy of the video of mine that was removed if you like. I’m not sure if mine falls under Fair Use, although I posted it for comment and educational purposes and detailed this on my blog at:
http://www.independentconservative.com/2007/04/11/benny_hinn_tbn_n2/ Where I was using YouTube as a means to embed the video on my blog where I was providing education about Hinn. It could count as news as well, given I was tracking this TBN “telethon” for 5 of the 6 nights it aired, something no news media outlet was doing. (I do accept advertising on my blog.) The 10 minute video was just a portion of hours of time Benny Hinn was on TBN that night.

My coverage of that “telethon” included many others, if you care to see those others, which are still on YouTube and embedded on my blog. All was fairly similar:
http://www.independentconservative.com/2007/04/14/medina_s_pullings/
http://www.independentconservative.com/2007/04/13/jamal_harrison_bryant/
http://www.independentconservative.com/2007/04/12/long_n_munsey_tbn/
http://www.independentconservative.com/2007/04/09/td_jakes_pimps_4_tbn/
I’ve also covered other “telethon” activity of this sort before that one at TBN http://www.independentconservative.com/2007/03/11/munsey_on_insp/
It’s the kind of thing that I cover on my blog and offer Christian Bible based analysis. I often leverage YouTube for video hosting.

Many who do what I do, fear that our hard work might be done away with if we don’t fight back. Honestly, we are just trying to help people.

I’ve found that parody videos of another man who was being exposed named Robert Tilton were also removed http://www.independentconservative.com/2007/04/30/robert_tilton_youtube/

I know some of the people who posted videos that were removed and could contact them if needed.

I was told by one person who had their YouTube account suspended, that people like Hinn and Tilton are all using the same legal firm to have videos removed from YouTube.

I pray you are able to assist us.

Thank you,
Darnell McGavock

cc’ed Michelle Malkin

I know that the Trinity Foundation has kicked Benny Hinn’s butt when he tried to sue them for their DVD with HOURS of video that expose him for the fraudulent heretic that he is. They sell that video on DVDs till this very day. So video clips that were at most 10 minutes long, exposed Benny Hinn and were posted to help educate the masses, in my opinion should fall under Fair Use. Some of the videos remove from YouTube were the exact same footage that the Trinity Foundation has on DVDs that they sell. They are a non-profit.

Given the EFF has not responded, I’m wondering if anyone else might be able to help? I can reach many of the people who had videos posted that were removed and would like to stop this abuse of the DMCA if possible.