YT dispute

[theanonsisters.livejournal.com]

Has anyone else been successful in a YT dispute? I logged into my account today to discover this:

As a result of your dispute, the claim on your video, "Vienna (Ashes to Ashes fanvid)", has been removed. Your video has been restored to its original state.

My dispute was a response composed by morgandawn, I found it browsing various YT dispute posts - thanks :D

Comments

[giandujakiss.livejournal.com]

That's awesome! Do you mind if I ask - was the copyright claim based on the music or the visuals? Thanks!

[theanonsisters.livejournal.com]

the music, it was Warners Music Group (Vienna by Ultravox)

[giandujakiss.livejournal.com]

Fantastic! What language did you use?

[theanonsisters.livejournal.com]

The use of the copyrighted material is justified as fair use under 17 USC 107 because it is (a) transformative and (b) does not adversely affect the market or potential market of the original work or derivative works. The central purpose of this investigation [into purpose and character of use] is to see ... whether the new work merely "supersede[s] the objects" of the original creation, or instead adds something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the first with new expression, meaning, or message; it asks, in other words, whether and to what extent the new work is "transformative." Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569, 579, 114 S.Ct. 1164, 127 L.Ed.2d 500 (1994), Zomba Enterprises, Inc.; Zomba Songs, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Panorama Records, Inc., Defendant-Appellant., 491 F.3d 574 (6th Cir. 2007).

hope it's okay to repost this - I didn't compose it myself, it's thanks to morgandawn

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

I used the same language from morgandawn's post the other day on 5 of my vids that had either been blocked completely or muted and they've all been restored.

[theanonsisters.livejournal.com]

Oh, excellent! My dispute had been going on for about a month and I wasn't expecting this, I hadn't heard any success stories at all

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

http://transformativeworks.org/news/youtube-blocking-your-vids-exercise-your-right-fair-use

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

Oh, and there are lots of success stories in comments here.

http://community.livejournal.com/otw_news/44443.html

[theanonsisters.livejournal.com]

yes, that was the post I found in early Jan then I couldn't find it again so I hadn't any idea what the latest discussion was...I hope we continue to be successful

[kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com]

I'm going to try it on my SGA vid since it's a Warners Music Group dispute ::crosses fingers::

[theanonsisters.livejournal.com]

*crosses everything*

I didn't doubt it was a well written response, I think I'm surprised because I expected them to do just what they wanted regardless of what I said.

[mranderson71.livejournal.com]

Anyone tried this on Vimeo?

[pyrateanny.livejournal.com]

Well ... hurray! LOL

[fangirlism]

Vimeo's a little different. Fanvids don't get removed because of copyright, they get removed because uploading a fanvid goes against Vimeo's T&C.

[suechosethis.livejournal.com]

This is wonderful news. Thanks for passing on the info and congratulations!

[mranderson71.livejournal.com]

Vimeos T & S seems quite similar to Youtube's from the way I read it:
http://www.vimeo.com/terms
http://www.youtube.com/t/terms

Specifically under each respective sites Community Guidlines section you get essentially a similar message:

YOUTUBE
Respect copyright. Only upload videos that you made or that you are permitted to use. This means don't upload videos you didn't make, or use content in your videos that someone else owns the copyright to, such as music tracks, snippets of copyrighted programs, or videos made by other users, without necessary permissions. Read our Copyright Tips for more information.

VIMEO
"you agree not to upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any Submission that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements); upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any Submission that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party;"

[decadentdream.livejournal.com]

Heya *pokes* oh friend of mine LOL I haven't tried this on my vids over @ Youtube yet (I didn't think it was really worth kicking up a fuss?) but if it's worked on your vids then maybe I should slap them silly over mine? Can you give me a guide on where to go & what you did (I'll have to go flipping back through old comments otherwise... no rush)?

It's so awesome to hear that this response has worked on so many videos. CONGRATS TO ALL YOU GUYS!!! :D And morgandawn, of course, who is made of awesome for helping everyone.

[ender24]

I dont know about the dispute, but I just remember reading in the news yesterday somehwere, that Sony and Youtube (google) came to some sort of agreement ....

[esther-nairn511.livejournal.com]

That is truly amazing! Good for you!

[jagwriter78.livejournal.com]

Well, I tried on one of my vids which was muted and as a result to my complaint, they now removed my ability to file anymore complaint after I had been told that my video was pulled from the public all together. That totally sucks. I used morgandawn's preset text for my video which was muted due to a claim by UMG. I say this absolutely stinks now.

[theanonsisters.livejournal.com]

that does stink...Universal Music Group? Mine was Warners. I was hesitant about going ahead with it because they more or less threatened my account if it wasn't successful.

[jagwriter78.livejournal.com]

Well, I haven't had my account threatened or have gotten an account warning... I just had the audio removed and then the vid after I filed the complaint. Which..... sucks....

Youtube Account Suspended after lodging a dispute

[morgaine7.livejournal.com]

I just thought I'd post to mention that disputing the blocking of a vid isn't without it's pitfalls..... I recently made my first new vid in over a year and posted it on Youtube. It was caught by the recognition program for audio infringement and blocked. Remembering something about this post I searched for it, and armed with Morgandawn's words above lodged a dispute - the vid was allowed online.

Full of 'Fair Use Fervour' I decided to try the dispute process with two out of about five vids that had been blocked over the past couple of years (despite this my account has always said it is in 'Good Standing')- one for audio and one for video. They both came back online and I was *most* happy. Then, yesterday, I got an email stating -

"In response to your dispute of a video identification match, FOX reviewed your video Insatiable - Buffy (Buffy/Angel) and confirmed their claim to some or all of its visual content."

Well, I thought, at least I tried. An hour later I went to my Youtube account to find it had been suspended. No notification of why it has been deleted has been sent to me, although I've now just managed to find a page to ask exactly why it was suspended, and request (rather futilely I expect) that it be reinstated.

So it's back to imeem for me, saying goodbye (well actually not, as I can't) to my Youtube subscribers, and to all the stats and comments for my vids over the past couple of years.

(Crossposted to otw_news

Re: Youtube Account Suspended after lodging a dispute

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

thsnks for posting about this. What is clear is that Youtube's actions are often unpredictable. If there is any pattern to be found in your case it might depend on:

1. this was not your first dispute?
2. video vs. audio is being treated differently?

my gut thinks it has to do with the dispute over the visuals, but a few of the audio disputes have seen accounts removed after a second audio offense even when following youtube's new audio dispute process. what is new this year is that youtube is giving vidders an option to use different audio and keep their vid up or mute the audio and keep the video up - which some vidders then use to direct their viewer to another streaming site. that way they keep their stats/channels.

ps. let me know if Youtube reinstates. One idea: point out to them that "I was taking advantage of your new audio dispute process and I had no idea that visuals are handled differently. I've only been following your new guidelines and thought they could be applied to older videos/video disputes. I've been in good standing for years etc. and find it frustrating.."

No idea if this will help , since we don't know who is at the other end and whether they have any leeway to reinstate.

ps. I think it is important to let people know that video audio may be handled differently and/or that repeat disputes a can also bee an issue. I'll make a seperate post to the vidding community and link back here.

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

see the post by morgaine down below - note that video and audio may be treated differently.

Re: Youtube Account Suspended after lodging a dispute

[theanonsisters.livejournal.com]

that's what I meant in my reply to jagwriter78 above, I almost didn't do it because it looked from YT's language like it could result in the loss of my account if it wasn't successful. I decided to do it.

Re: Youtube Account Suspended after lodging a dispute

[morgaine7.livejournal.com]

This was my first try at using the dispute process, *but* I did lodge 3 disputes in one day.

I, too, believe it was the video element that got my account deleted as disputing the video content seemed to send the dispute straight back to Fox, who of course contended it. If it had been a video content owner other than Fox things might have been different.

My request for clarification and reinstatement was as follows (using another wise vidder's words as part of the email) -

My account has always been stated as being 'In Good Standing' which I assumed meant there were no 'strikes' against me, despite some videos being blocked or having advertising etc imposed due to a query over copyright.

I uploaded a video last weekend which was blocked immediately for audio infringement. However, I deign my videos to be covered by Fair Use. The use of the copyrighted material is justified as fair use because it is (a) transformative and (b) does not adversely affect the market or potential market of the original work or derivative works. "Fanvids" like this have been held up as exemplars of noncommercial transformative fair use by many noted legal experts and media scholars.

As the concept of Fair Use is being pushed more and more to the forefront of media related sites etc., and I firmly believe that all of my videos are covered by Fair Use as none would, or could, ever adversely affect the market or potential market of the original work (in fact, the exact opposite is the case as many people have contacted me in the past to say the have gone out and purchased CDs of the music I use on my vids), I also lodged a dispute on two videos that had been blocked some time ago.

Now my account has been suspended.

Surely the purpose of a dispute is to fairly judge the rights and/or wrongs of a situation and put the situation to rights? And suspending someone's account because they firmly believe in the concept of fair use and decide to dispute an action (the blocking of a vid) is wrong? I was not disputing that 'Fox' (for example) *own* the copyright. I *was* however (using free speech) pointing out that under Fair Use I am allowed to use it for non-profitmaking transformative works.

Suspending my account for such seems completely inappropriate and I would therefore request that you reinstate the same.

Should you require it I will permanently remove the video flagged by Fox - Fair Use and free speech notwithstanding."

This was met with the following reply -

"Thanks for your email. We received multiple notifications from various content owners regarding unauthorized content that has been uploaded by your account(s). When we're notified that a particular video uploaded to our site infringes another's copyright, we remove the material as the law requires. Federal law requires that we terminate accounts when they are found to repeatedly infringe copyright. Because you have had other videos rejected in the past, we are unable to reinstate your account. Users with suspended or terminated accounts are prohibited from creating new accounts or accessing YouTube’s community. You will need to resolve at least one of these penalties before your account can be reinstated. You may be able to resolve at least one of the following video removals by filing a counter-notification."

They listed 3 videos that had been blocked over the past year or so (and although I unfortunately hadn't realised it earlier - all by Fox or their subsidiaries).

When I replied querying a) why my account had 'Good Standing' if there were 'strikes' against it and b) if Youtube actually looked into Fair Use claims I got *exactly* the same reply as before. As the 'sender' both times was 'Robbie' it doesn't take a genius to realise the replies are all automated ones.

Sorry to have written so much but I thought keeping a record of what actually occurred in this instance might be useful.

Re: Youtube Account Suspended after lodging a dispute

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

thank you for taking the time to push back on this issue with Youtube and for letting us know the outcome. It does appear they keep track of how many vids are blocked over a long period of time - but based on their canned reply, it is still hard to say if they 'weigh' the audioswap disputes the same as the video. why have a dispute process that allows the customer to swap audio or mute and then penalize the customers for using the process at the same time? there is no way for the customer to know on any given day what music licenses are still valid.

ps. I wonder how a user can "resolve at least one of these penalties ,,,,"

Re: Youtube Account Suspended after lodging a dispute

[onlyjustwhisper.livejournal.com]

That's really helpful - I was considering lodging disputes but I now I think I won't if it means risking my account, especially since you can't get your account back again.

If you don't mind, how do you find out whether your account has 'Good Standing'?

Re: Youtube Account Suspended after lodging a dispute

[onlyjustwhisper.livejournal.com]

Never mind - I took a browse and worked out how to find out account status :)

[lissie-pissie.livejournal.com]

I have about three that have audio complaints - can I ask if everything is still okay? They haven't gone bipolar and suspended your account or anything since then? LOL I want to make sure, because someone else in here said that they got in trouble when they tried to do it more than once.

[femvamp.livejournal.com]

Nice. It worked. And I was just about to give up on youtube. But I kinda like youtube except for all their stupid rules....now I can use them again.

Go Me.

Thank you

Now I just have to find my old vids. Where did I put them again?