Today I got an email from YouTube about a video I created and posted on their site:
The content was a Link Wray song called "Green Hornet", copyright of which is allegedly owned by some shadowy group that calls itself 'IODA'. While I despise ham-fisted displays of over-bearing store-bought authority, I took the prudent course of action and re-edited the video, which you see now in the previous post.
Now, I do not sell the videos I make, nor do I broadcast them over the airwaves or charge a fee to the tens of viewers who watch them, so I did not harm the estate of Link Wray. But to be fair, copyright protection is in the original US Constitution (that is to say, it was not added later by amendment or case law) and as such is the 'supreme law of the land'.
There is a concept in copyright law called 'fair use' and, long story short, if I had used only a portion of the song- say, a thirty second clip- I could legitimately make a fair use claim.
Making short videos of my motorcycle rides with a GoPro camera is a lot of fun. And I feel that adding some music makes for a better video- it draws in the viewer and creates emotional impact. Let's be honest- if a video has 5 minutes of motorcycle engine sound and windnoise, the casual viewer may just tune it out. I don't know- you tell me.
But since I don't need any legal hassles, future videos will only include clips of songs, not entire songs, and each video will be appended with a fair use notice. We'll see if this new strategy runs afoul of YouTube's legal sharks.
Dear edzeppelin91,
Your video, Clear Creek Canyon Pt 2, may have content that is owned or licensed by IODA.
No action is required on your part; however, if you are interested in learning how this affects your video, please visit the Content ID Matches section of your account for more information.
Sincerely,
- The YouTube Team
The content was a Link Wray song called "Green Hornet", copyright of which is allegedly owned by some shadowy group that calls itself 'IODA'. While I despise ham-fisted displays of over-bearing store-bought authority, I took the prudent course of action and re-edited the video, which you see now in the previous post.
Now, I do not sell the videos I make, nor do I broadcast them over the airwaves or charge a fee to the tens of viewers who watch them, so I did not harm the estate of Link Wray. But to be fair, copyright protection is in the original US Constitution (that is to say, it was not added later by amendment or case law) and as such is the 'supreme law of the land'.
There is a concept in copyright law called 'fair use' and, long story short, if I had used only a portion of the song- say, a thirty second clip- I could legitimately make a fair use claim.
Making short videos of my motorcycle rides with a GoPro camera is a lot of fun. And I feel that adding some music makes for a better video- it draws in the viewer and creates emotional impact. Let's be honest- if a video has 5 minutes of motorcycle engine sound and windnoise, the casual viewer may just tune it out. I don't know- you tell me.
But since I don't need any legal hassles, future videos will only include clips of songs, not entire songs, and each video will be appended with a fair use notice. We'll see if this new strategy runs afoul of YouTube's legal sharks.
:( argh... similar shit happened recently to bobskoot (wet coast scootin) with his utuby uploaded trip to china.
ReplyDeleteWhen putting music to videos we have the best luck with using Canadian must or music from small independent artists. Those don't usually get removed.
ReplyDeleteI had exactly the same issue with one of my videos recently and took the same course of action as you. I have mixed views on this issue. I am trying to find a good source of good royalty free music. If I find one, I will let you know.
ReplyDeleteIts a copyright and if you use music that isn't free podcast usable, it is illegal to use. I know a lot of peeps in the music business and what happens is the "bots" are roaming looking for certain frames in the music. When it comes upon one, deletion is the norm. One reason why I never use it. However, there is plenty of actual "free" music on the web which you can easily download and use for any You Tube video you might make. Some of it is pretty good too. I have permission from a couple of my local "Indie" bands to play their music on my videos and most Indies are happy to turn you on to it, but you MUST give them credit. They work hard to make the music and play the music, its only fair.
ReplyDeleteP.S. That "credit" must be on the video itself.
ReplyDeleteNo Name:
ReplyDeleteI started to have these YouTube Problems a couple of years ago, so now I am very careful, but on my last vacation with LIVE music, even that got tagged.
So I have been experimenting with making my own music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hSjBrKX0PM
I also record live music from outdoor venues during the summer and I add merge the audio with the video
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
Thank you friends for your comments. I am looking for royalty-free music on the web, and recently opened an account at mobygratis.com, where I can download Moby songs for royalty-free use (with restrictions).
ReplyDeleteI have a video on YouTube that uses about 17 seconds of "I Just Want To Celebrate" by Rare Earth, which has not been flagged. This would tend to support the idea that using short clips is 'fair use'. We'll see as we go forward.
No Name:
ReplyDeleteI am not positive but clips can run as long as 29 seconds, and you can put them into a continuous loop to extend the time. Or conversly you can use freeware Audacity to "trim" the part of the clip you require
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
Thanks Bob- I'm using Roxio Creator 2011, which has a sound editing program. I load a song into it, snip off a little here, a little there, and soon I have a short clip that I save as an MP3 file, as musical accompaniment for opening or closing titles.
ReplyDeleteNo name:
ReplyDeleteI use Premiere Elements 10, there is an audio editor built into it too, but I haven't used it.
bob
Riding the Wet Coast