Copyright - Walking the tightrope

I have posted here on a number of occasions about copyright, mostly to say how complicated it is - particularly in the digital age. I have also had the occasional rant about the entertainment industry and how their stance is at times counter-productive and sometimes even downright stupid. Here's an example I came across recently. You can decide for yourself if it falls into the latter category...

The example comes from David Colarusso.When I talk to students about the value of digital video in the classroom, I almost always refer them to David's Tabletop Explainer series of YouTube videos. In fact, I usually show them his How To Build An Electric Motor... video (a cross between Blue Peter, Heath Robinson and The Gadget Show!). Recently, I learned from his facebook page that one of his YouTube videos had been taken down because FOX filed a copyright claim against it. You may have to be logged into facebook and/or a friend of David's to see his post, but essentially it shows how he responded to YouTube by claiming "fair use". Thankfully there is a happy ending and the video is now back up:

I think it is a great video. It draws you into some reasonably complex physics in a way that is entertaining and accessible. The animation of the arrows falling is brilliant and the mix of clips and explanation is engaging. Clearly, there is material from the film Speed in the clip but why on earth did FOX feel the need to ask for it to be pulled? In what way was it damaging their profits or their product?

I suspect that what happened was some automated process found the clip and the take down request was generated automatically because when David challenged the request (which I suspect led to the clip being viewed by a person rather than a process), they released their copyright claim. (Again, you may be able to see the image and comment from David from his facebook page.)

The question remains though - is it worth FOX and other copyright holders perusing a zero-tolerance approach to use of their material on YouTube or is such an approach largely counter-productive?