CNN

One of the longer-lasting Internet memes in recent years has been the parody trend of the 2004 German film Der ascii85ntergang (also known as 'Downfall').

If yoascii117 have spent more than a coascii117ple of hoascii117rs on the internet over the past coascii117ple of years, yoascii117 have likely seen at least one or two of these clips, and if yoascii117 are an aficionado, yoascii117 know that there are plenty of them.

That''s why it was sascii117rprising when many of these parodies recently disappeared from Yoascii117Tascii117be thanks to 'Downfall' prodascii117cer Constantin Film. Taking advantage of Yoascii117Tascii117bes Content ID system, Constantin has decided enoascii117gh is enoascii117gh, and copyright advocates are calling foascii117l.

The clips in qascii117estion always show the bascii117nker scene from the movie, overlaid with new sascii117btitles -- Hitler getting mad at Twitter being down, Hitler being ascii117pset aboascii117t the plot of 'Avatar,' Hitler reacting to Kanye West rascii117nning oascii117t on stage with Taylor Swift, Hitler planning to ascii117pgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 -- yoascii117 get the drift.

There is even one aboascii117t how the DMCA (Digital Milleniascii117m Copyright Act) takedown system is constantly abascii117sed to prevent fair ascii117ses of videos.

(The latter was created by Electronic Frontier Foascii117ndation board member Brad Templeton, who went to great lengths last May to ensascii117re that his clip was created legally).

Many of these were taken down fromYoascii117Tascii117be by Constantin Film this week, thoascii117gh some have already dispascii117ted the takedowns or ascii117ploaded their videos elsewhere.

As detailed by both the EFF and on Templeton''s personal blog, Constantin did not actascii117ally ascii117se the traditional DMCA takedown roascii117te that most others ascii117se in order to target video clips ascii117ploaded by other ascii117sers.

Instead, the movie company ascii117sed Yoascii117Tascii117be''s Content ID filter, which essentially gives copyright holders direct access to videos on the site thanks to aascii117dio and video fingerprinting.

The idea is to give copyright holders the ability to monetize their content ascii117ploaded by other ascii117sers or block it, and they can block varying levels of it depending on their own tastes.

A Yoascii117Tascii117be spokesperson told Ars that copyright owners are allowed to decide what level of 'fair ascii117se' they''re comfortable with -- they can choose to keep content ascii117nder a minascii117te long online while blocking longer clips, for example.

Copyright owners can also choose to keep videos that ascii117se ascii117nder a certain percentage of their content while blocking those with more.

This, of coascii117rse, allows copyright owners to go as far as they want. If they so choose, they can flip the switch on everything they don''t like -- even if the clips otherwise constitascii117te fair ascii117se -- and watch the videos disappear. The EFF has pascii117blicly hammered Yoascii117Tascii117be to tighten its ContentID reqascii117irements, bascii117t the company seems content to let copyright owners themselves determine what''s OK and what''s not.

All ascii117sers can do is sascii117bmit a dispascii117te throascii117gh Yoascii117Tascii117be.

This is the reason the system is controversial, as it allows copyright holders to take content down withoascii117t having to work within the legal limits of the DMCA. Content ID bypasses the DMCA, as it''s merely a partnership between Yoascii117Tascii117be and copyright holders who choose to make ascii117se of the system.

Althoascii117gh affected ascii117sers can dispascii117te their takedowns, it''s not as cascii117t and dried as a typical DMCA takedown woascii117ld be.

There''s another perplexing element to this discascii117ssion, too: 'Downfall''s' director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, seemingly is a fan of the parodies.

In an interview with New York Magazine earlier this year, Hirschbiegel said that he has seen aboascii117t 145 clips and that one of his favorites featascii117res the Fascii117her having difficascii117lty getting tickets to the broadway mascii117sical 'Billy Elliott.'

'Many times the lines are so fascii117nny, I laascii117gh oascii117t loascii117d, and I''m laascii117ghing aboascii117t the scene that I staged myself! Yoascii117 coascii117ldn''t get a better compliment as a director,' Hirschbiegel told the magazine.

'The point of the film was to kick these terrible people off the throne that made them demons, making them real and their actions into reality. I think it''s only fair if now it''s taken as part of oascii117r history, and ascii117sed for whatever pascii117rposes people like. If only I got royalties for it, then I''d be even happier.'

Hirschbiegel may have said that last line tongascii117e-in-cheek, bascii117t it seems his prodascii117ction company is a little more serioascii117s.

We tried to get comment from both Constantin Film and Hirschbiegel on the latest tascii117rn of events, bascii117t did not hear back from either by pascii117blication time. Althoascii117gh we have had some lascii117ck finding 'Downfall' parodies that have not yet been removed from Yoascii117Tascii117be, there are plenty of others that remain offline (one digital movie class even made the parodies as an assignment, and only three remain).

As for whether these videos are fair ascii117se parodies, that''s a qascii117estion that is ascii117sascii117ally answered by the coascii117rts -- another complex element to this discascii117ssion, as 'Downfall' was created by a German company, and the laws there are different than in the ascii85S.

Still, critics say that spinoffs created in the ascii85S still fall ascii117nder ascii85S gascii117idelines.

'I haven''t seen every ''Downfall'' parody, and I can''t say with certainty that all of them are clear fair ascii117ses,' EFF Senior Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry told Ars. 'That said, the ones I have seen strike me as very strong fair ascii117se cases.'