YouTube has been robbed of one of the most chuckleworthy gifts known to mankind: Rebecca Black’s “Friday” video!
The deafening viral nightmare that attracted over 100 million views on the video sharing website when it premiered in March was removed for the web this week as 14-year-old Black and her mother, Georgina Marquez Kelly, prepare to sue the ninth grader’s recording label for unlawful exploitation of publicity rights and copyright infringement.
“We can confirm that we submitted a Take Down Notice to YouTube as a result of the dispute we have with Ark Music regarding the ‘Friday’ video,” representative for Black said Thursday.
With a myriad of bad lyrics and a cheesy pop promo, “Friday” racked up nearly $1 million in iTunes sales and became the most-watched YouTube clip of the year since it originally surfaced. Today, however, all attempts to play the video on Ark Music Factory’s YouTube page or in embedded players are greeted with the message: “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Rebecca Black.”