A US federal judge has ruled that copyright holders must consider fair use when issuing DMCA takedown notices, after a Pennsylvanian woman fought Universal Music Group's efforts to remove of a YouTube clip of her son dancing to Prince's "Let's Go Crazy".

Stephanie Lenz has won the right to sue UMG after judge Jeremy Fogel ruled that Universal needed to first consider whether the clip was "fair use" of the material. In 2007 Lenz posted a 29 second clip of her 13 month son dancing to the Prince classic, which YouTube removed after Universal issued a takedown notice under the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Lenz's lawyers, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, argued that Universal violated the DMCA notice and takedown provisions, which state copyright holders can demand the removal of their works from the web if they have "a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law". As the video was a fair use of Prince's work, and thus authorized under law, the EFF contended Universal violated the DMCA.