This article was published on October 19, 2016

Samsung fired up over GTA mod that turns Note 7 into a bomb


Samsung fired up over GTA mod that turns Note 7 into a bomb

In the midst of a PR nightmare, Samsung probably isn’t seeing much humor in a Grand Theft Auto mod that turns its recalled Note 7 into a weapon of mass destruction. Is this art imitating life, or life imitating art? I can never remember.

Video of the mod first appeared two weeks ago, and today it’s a casualty of the dreaded DMCA notice.

Samsung might not be done, either. It seems the company is misusing the DMCA tool to target other videos featuring the incendiary mobile device. In what clearly constitutes overreach and abuse of the DMCA tool, Samsung seems intent on removing any such video from the internet.

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What Samsung doesn’t appear to understand is that parody remains protected from this type of copyright claim, and the original Note-as-bomb mod is unmistakably mocking the company, not attempting to profit from its intellectual property.

For now, the company is making headway as multiple videos featuring the mod have been pulled from YouTube. It’s unclear whether the creators have filed an appeal, and what might transpire moving forward.

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