Let's Talk Copyrighted Music

Vio

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Dash Cam
G1W-H
I like making dash cam compilations, and I like listening to music while driving... you can see the issue which is bound to come about. So far I have 3 compilations on YouTube, all of which got hit by the content ID system because of some background music.

Previously I didn't mind too much - all it meant was that some viewers might see ads, and the video would be blocked in Germany (what is up with the Germans yo?) But eventually I realised that this need not be the case. My videos are for educational, non-commercial and non-profit purposes. Any copyrighted work is purely incidental music which usually appears for no more than thirty seconds, and has practially zero effect on the potential market for or value of the copyrighted works. That's basically the definition of fair use, is it not?

And with this in mind, I decided to dispute all of the claims. And I did so successfully for two of the three videos, which now play fine and ad-free wherever you are in the world.

Today I visited YouTube and found out that Sony Music Entertainment has made a copyright notification against me in regards to my April compilation, for which I have recieved a copyright strike. The video has been taken off YouTube, because of one short clip's background music.

What annoys me most - apart from being forced to endure some grade-school-quality fair use tutorial by YouTube featuring things I already knew - is this:
"A claimant sent us a legal notice about their copyrighted content in your video."
So this isn't a case of your usual automatic content ID'd some music and thinks you hate copyright laws... this is an actual person - who more than likely knows full well what does and what doesn't qualify for fair use - who nonetheless has gone out of their way to get my video taken down, and for apparently no ulterior motive. Why? Will my viewers decide to boycott The Fray because they don't like my driving...?

Not happy. Am I going to challenge this? You bet I am. I have a counter-notification pending already, and if they are equally stubborn and fancy going to court over it (remember Lenz v. UMC for the same thing?), I think I have pretty solid legal ground to stand on.

That's my rant for today.
 
So how does this happen?

I claim fair use...
"After reviewing your dispute, SME has decided that their copyright claim is still valid."
...I dispute this again...
"After reviewing your second dispute, SME still believes your video violates their copyright. As a result, we've taken down your video from YouTube"

How does it work? Surely there must be actual people involved at this stage?
 
If it detects their song it will trigger a violation, a review would just flag it to check it wasn't a false positive, still their song, still a violation

If it has their copyright material on it why argue the point, I agree 10 seconds of what's playing on the radio in the background is ridiculous but they make the rules and have far deeper pockets than you or I ever will, follow the rules or get your stuff pulled by them
 
I agree it is silly but best to mute the sound from your video, you can then add some other royalty-free music track if you want.
 
The reason to dispute it is because if you do not then they will continue to do it. Fair use is fair use, but they do not want you to even have that.
I ran into a similar situation years ago working in an educational institution. Received a big packet from the RIAA with all the rules for use of music; I read through the entire thing. A week after I received the packet I got a call from them wanting to know when I was going to send them their royalties. I told the woman on the phone that reading the packet they sent me that my usage was covered by such and such clause sub paragraph whatever and we were exempt because we were an educational institution. There followed almost a whole minute of dead silence and she finally said (in a very sarcastic nasty voice) "Fine, I will make a note in our files, good-by."
 
@Vio just move on.
Those are the rules, and, as long you can't change them you have to accept them. Two years ago I received a strike from youtube for a clip having, at that moment, 427393 views. The revenue for that clip wasn't even activated. I thought sending a letter to the person who complained but I let it go.
If you still think you can make a difference, then I propose a limited time duration for the copyright (10-15 years). As long as you don't live isolated from others, on some island, etc. , then your creativity is automatically influenced by the environment built by others. So, you can't say that your work 100 % belongs to yourself.
 
This is somehow self-inflicted problem, basically you want to use somebody's property for free and now you are angry because rightful owner says no.
There is very easy solution to this problem: use royalty free music or compose it by yourself - problem solved:)
When i was young somebody turn my bicycle to freeware and took it away, i wasn't very happy, i had all rights to my bicycle:mad:
 
What I find annoying is that they will detect a song from a 10 second clip where the music is background to road noise, car horn, swearing etc etc. Then they whinge about it.
It'd be different if the whole song played over everything else with just my clip as background video.
In my experience, you hear 10 seconds of a bit of music you may once have liked or you recognise & that song goes round in your head - maybe someone might buy it as a result? or request airtime on a radio station (so revenue for the owner)?
 
I think YouTube only blocks videos if you are monetizing the clip.
That's fair as you/we shouldn't make money off of other's work.
Just don't monetize it.
If videos are blocked even on the non monetized clips, you have to remove it, manually or by YouTube's auto song removal option.
 
i wasn't very happy, i had all rights to my bicycle:mad:
I don't think your example fits well in this case.
Here a better example: someone took a picture about something else (not your bike) and that picture was a success all over the world. In conclusion, by simple accident your bike was in that picture, your bike wasn't the main subject of that picture, but you consider it's normal to share the benefits.
you want to use somebody's property for free
It's clear that the main subject in those clips is not the music on the radio, or CD, or whatever. Also, in many cases the rights were bought by the big corporations and, of course, they are the ones who make the rules. As I wrote in my previous message, 10-15 years of copyright are enough.
if you are monetizing the clip
Not necessary, read my example.
 
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I think YouTube only blocks videos if you are monetizing the clip....
I don't think so. I had a couple of my clips flagged but just redid them with audio deleted.
 
why they don't just have the links to itunes or whatever to buy the song is beyond me, it's not like you couldn't find the same songs on YouTube anyway, it's their playground, their rules, but it is all very stupid they way they stifle things instead of just promoting it
 
I don't think so. I had a couple of my clips flagged but just redid them with audio deleted.
Not sure what the rule is to flag them.
I have many videos and had no issues as long as they were not monetized even though it displays "Matched third party content".
As soon as I check option to monetize, it fails quoting that.

Looks like blocking video is entirely different and doesn't care whether it's monetized or not.
Maybe it's specific with some artists that have strict policy with sharing their music. :confused:
 
A Google search for "incidental music fair use" brings up a huge amount of results which always say it's classed as so.

"Home videos or documentary-type videos which capture copyrighted material in the background, such as a TV show playing on a TV or a song playing on the radio When copyrighted material is incidentally captured in the background of a video (for example, a baby dancing to a Prince song as in the case Lenz v. Universal ) courts have held it to be fair use."

I know the majority of dash cammers play it safe and mute or replace the audio, but I much prefer to keep my clips pure, especially if there are other sounds e.g. horns, reactions, etc. and and as far as I understand it, regardless of who owns the music, I'm perfectly within my legal rights to do so.

I also never monitise my videos. I loathe advertisements and don't fancy putting my viewers through having to watch them for my own profit.
 
I am also like you Vio recording my dashcam with audio on and capturing my background car music playing, but rule is rule, you are using YouTube site and service and since they run the site they set the rule, if you are not happy with the rule you can always post your video elsewhere, not in YouTube.
 
What most people fail to realize is that a copyright holder has to try to protect their copyright or they will lose it - permanently. I know it sounds niggling but that's a fact - at least in the US. It applies not only to music but photography, artwork, movies/videos, etc. The same principal extends to trademarks as well.

A number of words in use today were once trademarked brand names but they fell into common use and the trademark protection was lost. Probably the one most people can relate to is the word aspirin. It was originally a brand name but no longer.

The same thing almost happened to the brand names "Band Aid" and "Xerox". People in general started using "Band Aid" to mean bandage and "Xerox" instead of photo-copy. This is why today you will see products referred to as "Band Aid" brand bandages, or "Xerox" brand photo copier. It's a matter of protection.

The same theory applies to music as well. If the publisher doesn't protect their copyright it (the music piece, photo, etc.) can fall into the public domain and they loose all ownership rights.

I agree it can be a nuisance but it is what it is...
 
What most people fail to realize is that a copyright holder has to try to protect their copyright or they will lose it
I don't think it's the case here. Also, don't forget that many of these copyrights are bought by other companies. The problem is how these rules are applied, see my example:
Someone took a picture about something else, and by simple accident @Sabes's bike (for example) was in that picture. That picture was a success all over the world and made a lot of money. Even if the bike wasn't the main subject of that picture, @Sabes considers it's normal to share the benefits.
My example fits perfectly @Vio's problem with Youtube (probably excepting the money and the success :p).
 
You cannot compare photos and music like that, if you hold a new cd of Taylor Swift and make video of it nobody cares.
 
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