High court won’t hear appeal over dancing baby video

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won’t hear an appeal in a long-running copyright dispute over a YouTube video that shows a baby dancing to Prince’s song, “Let’s Go Crazy.”

The justices on Monday left in place a lower court ruling that cleared the way for a trial in a lawsuit filed by the baby’s mother against Universal Music.

Universal had sent a notice demanding that YouTube take the video down. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that copyright holders can’t demand that videos be taken down without determining whether they constitute “fair use.”

But the court said the mother must show Universal had actual knowledge it was misrepresenting the law when it ordered the video removed. She said that standard allows copyright holders that abuse the law off the hook.