The Teresa Teng fans around the world have a big problem with YouTube! What is going on? Please, read this very important message!
In December 2008, Warner Music Group ordered YouTube to remove all music videos by its artists from the popular online video-sharing site after the contract negotiations broke down. The order affected hundreds of thousands of video clips, as it covered Warner Music's recorded artists as well as the rights for songs published by its Warner/Chappell unit, which includes many artists not signed to Warner Music record labels.
This is what happened four years ago. Now, we have a new version of YouTube, which tries to be more like an official TV channel. It probably means the death of fan culture and the so called fan-made music videos on YouTube. Many record labels have their own official channel now. That's why the unofficial "fan-made videos" are removed. Only official videos remain.
This happens all the time. For example: Earlier this year, hundreds of Masako Mori videos suddenly disappeared during a few weeks' time. Many Masako Mori channels in Japan were shut down by The YouTube Team. Overall, thousands of videos have disappeared from YouTube!
Personally, I have trouble with my uploaded videos all the time. I have only 45 uploads on my YouTube channel, but about 30 of them have a copyright notice. In addition to that, I've got one warning... Three warnings or copyright strikes mean that The YouTube Team will suspend the channel. Sounds bad, right? So it goes.
Especially, I’m very worried about my Teresa Teng music videos. I've received a copyright notice regarding ALL of my TT videos, and many of those videos are blocked in Germany. In that country, there seems to be the most powerful censorship in the free world. It is sad, because for people living in Germany, it is very hard to be a fan of Teresa Teng, since one cannot see her videos at all!
However, it is possible to go round this "block"! It is as simple as this: If you live in Germany, change the country of your residency in your settings. For example, The United States works well. Most videos are available there. South Pole is a good choice as well. Haha. After that, you can hide the country setting on your page, so that no one can see it. Got it? ;)
This is a common notice sent by YouTube regarding my TT videos:
"Your video may include the following copyrighted content:
...sound recording administered by: UMG
What does this mean?
Your video is blocked in these locations:
Germany
In some cases ads may appear next to your video. Please note that the video's status can change, if the policies chosen by the content owners change. Learn more about copyright on YouTube.
This claim does not affect your account status."
I think that UMG owns the copyrights to all TT songs now. UMG (Universal Music Group) is a major global music company. It owns Universal Music Publishing Group, which is the second largest music publishing company in the world.
It seems that UMG does not accept our fan-made music videos anymore. The worst case scenario is that one day YouTube will remove all of the thousands of Teresa Teng music videos. After that, there will be Only One Channel (official UMG channel) that has the rights to share TT music videos!
Yes, it is possible. I really hope this will not happen... Maybe I'm just too pessimistic in this regard (hope so). However, personally, I cannot stand the "fascism" of the big corporations. They are ruining our fan culture! It makes me really sick. Back in the good old days, YouTube was still YOUtube. Now it has become more like a TV channel of the big (bad) official corporations.
Please see this article too:
Teresa Teng - The Angel Came Down to Earth
In December 2008, Warner Music Group ordered YouTube to remove all music videos by its artists from the popular online video-sharing site after the contract negotiations broke down. The order affected hundreds of thousands of video clips, as it covered Warner Music's recorded artists as well as the rights for songs published by its Warner/Chappell unit, which includes many artists not signed to Warner Music record labels.
This is what happened four years ago. Now, we have a new version of YouTube, which tries to be more like an official TV channel. It probably means the death of fan culture and the so called fan-made music videos on YouTube. Many record labels have their own official channel now. That's why the unofficial "fan-made videos" are removed. Only official videos remain.
This happens all the time. For example: Earlier this year, hundreds of Masako Mori videos suddenly disappeared during a few weeks' time. Many Masako Mori channels in Japan were shut down by The YouTube Team. Overall, thousands of videos have disappeared from YouTube!
Personally, I have trouble with my uploaded videos all the time. I have only 45 uploads on my YouTube channel, but about 30 of them have a copyright notice. In addition to that, I've got one warning... Three warnings or copyright strikes mean that The YouTube Team will suspend the channel. Sounds bad, right? So it goes.
Especially, I’m very worried about my Teresa Teng music videos. I've received a copyright notice regarding ALL of my TT videos, and many of those videos are blocked in Germany. In that country, there seems to be the most powerful censorship in the free world. It is sad, because for people living in Germany, it is very hard to be a fan of Teresa Teng, since one cannot see her videos at all!
However, it is possible to go round this "block"! It is as simple as this: If you live in Germany, change the country of your residency in your settings. For example, The United States works well. Most videos are available there. South Pole is a good choice as well. Haha. After that, you can hide the country setting on your page, so that no one can see it. Got it? ;)
This is a common notice sent by YouTube regarding my TT videos:
"Your video may include the following copyrighted content:
...sound recording administered by: UMG
What does this mean?
Your video is blocked in these locations:
Germany
In some cases ads may appear next to your video. Please note that the video's status can change, if the policies chosen by the content owners change. Learn more about copyright on YouTube.
This claim does not affect your account status."
I think that UMG owns the copyrights to all TT songs now. UMG (Universal Music Group) is a major global music company. It owns Universal Music Publishing Group, which is the second largest music publishing company in the world.
It seems that UMG does not accept our fan-made music videos anymore. The worst case scenario is that one day YouTube will remove all of the thousands of Teresa Teng music videos. After that, there will be Only One Channel (official UMG channel) that has the rights to share TT music videos!
Yes, it is possible. I really hope this will not happen... Maybe I'm just too pessimistic in this regard (hope so). However, personally, I cannot stand the "fascism" of the big corporations. They are ruining our fan culture! It makes me really sick. Back in the good old days, YouTube was still YOUtube. Now it has become more like a TV channel of the big (bad) official corporations.
Please see this article too:
Teresa Teng - The Angel Came Down to Earth
Click this picture and see the one copyright notice
which I received from YouTube.
Hi Teisuka,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing your concern over the fussy copyright issue on YouTube. That's my concern too. I've also received quite a few copyright notices mostly involving Teresa Teng's songs. As you said, the fan culture of YouTube has died. Right now some music company is just trying to have monopoly over the most popular songs by famous singers to maximize its own interests. I don't think it it right for them to do so. They are simply ruining the YouTube.
I agree that everyone should respect copyright. But copyright should be imposed to prevent people from making profits by using copyrighted properties without permission. In other words, the copyright issue should not be brought up against us, the music fans who simply share our passion among one another with no intention of making a single penny from these self-made videos. And I don't think any of us will ever make any money from YouTube by doing what we've done all along. So in this sense, both the music company and YouTube have abused the copyright law to punish the innocent YouTube users like us. It's really unfair! I assume they want to put ads on each and every video that we made to increase their revenue. Hopefully that's their only purpose by making such a fuss over the copyright issue. If they want to eventually get rid of all the videos made by Teresa Teng's fans, then that will be a disaster to us! I hope it will never happen.
It seems that UMG is gradually extending their copyright claims to more songs by TT. When I uploaded some of her songs earlier this year, I did not receive notices regarding copyright. But now they suddenly became UMG's copyrighted property and I started receiving such notices, which really bother me though have not affected my channel's status.
Right now I'm in a dilemma as to which of the songs by TT I should upload. It seems that many of her songs early in her career have not been copyrighted by UMG. But if I only upload these songs, then people might have a wrong perception of TT's talent. These songs are good, but not as great as the ones she sang later in her career. But maybe eventually I even do not have the freedom of uploading these earlier songs.
Anyway, changing a fan-based video sharing site into something like an official TV channel is the last thing I want to see. If it's going toward that direction, then I think we should issue a petition to protest such a move.
Thank you again for sharing our common concern. May you have a great week ahead of you. :)
Bao
Hello Bao,
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for your long and thoughtful comment. I'm glad to see you share my concern over the strict politics of YouTube. I just hope that this article would find more readers. Because many fans of Teresa Teng doesn't know anything about this "danger". They should know...
I completely agree with you what comes to the respecting copyright. Let's hope that the worst possibility will not happen... But if UMG will order YouTube to remove all fan-made videos of Teresa Teng, then we must release a petition to protest that, and we should also boycott UMG. Few big corporations have too much power in this world.
You too, have a wonderful week ahead, my friend. :)
Hi, Teisuka,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the info. It would be very sad when that day arrives and we won't be able to share the songs we like.
I have also received a "matched 3rd party content" notice:
"Bridge Over Troubled Water (My rendition)
Your video may include the following copyrighted content:
"Bridge Over Troubled Water", musical composition administered by:
One or more music publishing rights collecting societies
UMPG Publishing"
The background music I use is a karaoke version. So we cannot even cover a song with karaoke music and then share it. This is really over-reaching.
Teresa Teng's fans' enthusiasm and joy of sharing have helped to spread her legacy far and wide beyond her Asian base. But this movement will wane very soon. For now all we can do is to enjoy her songs and download her videos as much as possible.
I am thinking of changing my country of residency to South Pole :) because some videos are blocked in my country.
Blessings to you!
g2kdlj
Hi "G2kdlj",
DeleteThank you for visiting and dropping a comment on my blog. I appreciate that. Oh, you have also received copyright notices? Yes, even using of karaoke tracks can cause troubles. I'm afraid, this is not over-reaching but YouTube is coming more and more strict on the copyright issues... BUT we can also fight for our rights to share our videos. Let me tell here two hopeful and positive cases:
1) Many months ago two of my music videos were blocked worldwide because of visual content. I used movie clips from the films of Mosfilm. So I "disputed" a copyright claims and I asked a permission of the content owner to use their film material on my videos. Mosfilm was very kind and fair to me. They withdrawed their claim and gave me a permission to use their material on my videos! I was so glad and relieved for that. That was the FIRST TIME EVER, when some "third party" had accepted my request conserning the "banned" video and copyright matters on YouTube. Mosfilm is the largest and oldest film studio in Russia and in Europe. This case prove, that sometimes we can also "win" the big corporations, if we are friendly and patient. :)
2) Some time ago my YouTube friend NaraleeTheElf had problems with her video. This young singer used karaoke track, and suddenly YT muted her video! She received this notice from YT: "This video contains an audio track that has not been authorized by all copyright holders. The audio has been disabled." So I adviced her father to go to the copyright notice site of that video and select the alternative: "I believe this copyright claim is not valid", and so on... In short: He disputed the copyright notice, and miracle happened: YT took the claim away, and his daughter's video is available again! Happy end, eh? :)
By the way, it is good choice to change your country to South Pole. Haha. :) Seriously, let's hope that we can spread Teresa's musical legacy also in the future. But IF YouTube will block her (our) videos, then we have to find another home. I'm talking about the other video-sharing sites...
Blessings to you, too.
Hi, Teisuka,
ReplyDeleteThank you again for sharing your experience re copyright issues. It is nice to know. YT has not threaten further action on my video so I'll just leave it for now.
It is a good idea to find another home for our videos. When you find it, please let us know. : )
Have a nice day!
g2kdlj
Hi Teisuka,
ReplyDeleteHope all is well with you! *~*
YT has blocked my video Bridge Over Troubled Water. Should I remove this video from my account?
There used to be an instrumental channel covering famous songs. But now no more. So even not using the original sound track is illegal.
Blessings to you!
G2kdlj
Hi G2kdlj,
DeleteThanks for your message. Yes, even not using the original sound track it might be illegal. If you just use composition or melody made by some other person, it is illegal, even you would play all instruments by yourself... Copyright law is so strict!
Regarding your question, should you remove your video which is blocked by YouTube? If it is blocked only in one country (let me guess: in Germany?) just let it be. No need to remove. But if your video is blocked worldwide, it is better to remove. Anyway, if you haven't received any warning from YT, your channel is not really in danger. Ok? :)
Blessings,
Teisuka
Hi Teisuka,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your advice. My video Bridge Over Troubled Water is now disappeared from my Uploads page. There is this "matched 3rd party content" notice:
Bridge Over Troubled Water (My rendition)
Your video is available and playable. Your video may include a song owned by a third party. For example, this might be a song playing in the background or someone performing a song.
To hear the matched song please play the video on the right. The video will play from the point where the matched content was identified. Here are the details: "Bridge Over Troubled Water", musical composition administered by: 0:15 UMPG Publishing.
I think people with the link can still view it. I will keep this video for a little while and then remove it.
Merry, Merry Christmas! *~*
G2kdlj
Hi 'G2kdlj',
DeleteYou're welcome, and thank you for your comment. Yes, I think it is the best you can do... Just be careful. YouTube is so strict these days, and they also change their rules or settings almost every week. By the way, I'm going to upload a new Teresa video on my other channel today.
Merry belated Christmas to you too (well, yesterday was Russian Orthodox Christmas). ^^
Teisuka
Hi Teisuka,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing how you deal with copyright issues. Would you share more details? *~* I have 3 questions.*~*
1. Did you need to inform YouTube that you were disputing the claim for the video to be unblocked?
2. In your dispute letter to the copyright company, what was your reason for the dispute? *~*
3. Is this dispute just a delaying tactic? *~*
Re video-sharing sites, have you heard of #waywire? Please check it out. If it is good, please let us know.
Blessings to you!
G2kdlj
Hi 'G2kdlj',
DeleteMy answers to your questions:
1. No, I didn't need to do that. I only disputed the claim on YouTube. It is an opportunity that YouTube provides us users in their service.
2. Usually I click (choose) the alternative "my use of the content meets the legal requirements for fair use or fair dealing under applicable copyright laws". Then I click "continue" and I go ahead. Finally, I write a short message to the "claim maker" (owner of the content). For example, regarding my latest blocked video, I wrote this short message to Fortune Star Media (I hope this "letter" is a good example or model to other users):
Or: I ask permission to use this material. My video contains only 2 minutes film material from this 90 minutes long movie. Please, read my DESCRIPTION text to the video. I have mentioned all original names and authors, and that Fortune Star Media owns all copyrights to the visual content of my video. So I have been honest and fair. That's why I beg the permission to use these short film clips on my "fan-made music video". PLEASE, GIVE ME A PERMISSION! This is only just good commercial of your movie. I mean: my video is a good "promoting" for the film. After seeing it, many people want to see the whole movie. Besides, there are numerous video clips from this movie available on YouTube. So I wonder why only my video is blocked?? I haven't edited my video from your TRAILER but the original DVD which I own. I thank you Fortune Star Media, if you can be so nice that you let me use this video. Xie xie ni! :)
Respectfully,
Teisuka (Finland)
3. No, absolutely not. Me and my friends have a positive experiences that sometimes disputing really works. For example, Mosfilm (Russia) has given me a permission to use their movie clips on my videos every time!
By the way, I checked #waywire, and it seems this site just organize all videos (RSS-feed) in one place. You can not upload videos on this site. Most of the videos are actually links from the YouTube. All this means that #waywire is only a web-based "feed reader" or news aggregator, RSS reader. It is client software or a web application which aggregates syndicated web content such as news headlines, blogs, podcasts, and video blogs (vlogs) in one location for easy viewing.
Blessings to you too, and happy Easter!
Kindly,
Teisuka
Hi Teisuka,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your time and attention in giving me such detailed answers. Appreciate that very much! *~*
I like your letter very much. It is very well written and genuinely asking for permission and not disputing the claim. This will be a model letter for me if needed be in the future.
I was joking in my #3 question. Hope you don't mind.
Thank you for your research on #waywire. Looks like we are stuck with YT for a while.
Pleas have a good weekend!
G2kdlj