Flotilla parody removed from YouTube

A scene from the video satire “We Con the World,” which mocks the outpouring of condemnation of Israel’s flotilla raid. (Latma)

JTA REPORT

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A parody of world reaction to the Gaza flotilla incident has been removed from You Tube.

“We Con the World,” sung to the tune of “We Are the World,” the 1980s fund-raising song for African hunger and rerecorded last year to help Haiti following its devastating earthquake, was removed from YouTube over a copyright claim by Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

The parody had more than a million hits.

It was created by Latma, a rightist Israeli group that produces political satire in Hebrew and sometimes in English. A Washington think tank, the Center for Security Policy, funds the group.

The link was circulated by Israel’s Government Press Office and then recalled, with a message saying the video was not intended to be released and that the contents do not represent the official policy of the state or the press office.

Carolyn Glick, a Latma editor, said that copyright experts told the group that the use of the song for the parody falls under the Fair Use Doctrine.