Mexico Medical Student |

I am shocked and appalled, I tell you, that my account was cancelled due to DMCA copyright violations. FOR CLASSICAL MUSIC VIDEOS. In every case, I was just posting what was publicly broadcast on TV at some point, not “bootleg” or other content that would understandably cause a problem since those watching didn’t pay something. Mind you, YouTube never said, “Ok, you better stop this or we’ll permanently disable your account,” which I would have taken seriously, but instead, on two and only two separate occasions, I received email letters such as the following:

Dear Member:

This is to notify you that we have removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by HOGAN & HARTSON RAUE LLP claiming that this material is infringing:

Beethoven Triple Concerto - 1st mvmt, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e01FtIEeXEU

Please Note: Repeat incidents of copyright infringement will result in the deletion of your account and all videos uploaded to that account. In order to avoid future strikes against your account, please delete any videos to which you do not own the rights, and refrain from uploading additional videos that infringe on the copyrights of others. For more information about YouTube’s copyright policy, please read the Copyright Tips guide.

If you elect to send us a counter notice, please go to our Help Center to access the instructions.

Please note that under Section 512(f) of the Copyright Act, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification may be subject to liability.

Sincerely,
YouTube, Inc.

I received three (3) emails just like this one, two for the 1st movmenent of the Beethoven “Triple” Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano, Op. 56, and one for the third movement. Apparently the 2nd movement didn’t violate anything. The artists were Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Itzhak Perlman, violin; Daniel Barenboim, piano/conductor (w/Berlin Philharmonic). All “A-list” performers–luminaries–in the classical world. The $300/hr-paid-lawyers above could be representing ANY of the previous artists, but in every case, I had videos from each of them separately, so why not have flagged them, too?

I also got an exactly similar boilerplate letter from Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe, LLC, about 6 Hilary Hahn videos I had. I got 6 emails, six removals, and I’m sure 6 “demerits” on my YouTube account before I even woke up in the morning that day. (Which, for HH I understand: she is a current “superstar” in the classical music world right now, but this was a TV performance on A&E) This is the problem: before I have a chance to act on anything, YouTube has mathematically decided that I ignored them not once, but 6 times; added to the previous infraction must mean that I don’t care. Action: Account Disable. My chance to do anything about either case after-the-fact? Zero.

What sucks, beyond all the lost uploading time, is by losing the account, I lost all the comments, the reputation and persona I’d established in that community on YouTube, and especially, a loss of great performances that, unless one was there to see the PBS concert that night in 1995, you’d never, ever have the chance to see again because you can’t even order it. If I’m taking money out of someone else’s pocket for broadcasting videos that I lovingly recorded to VHS 15+ years ago as a giddy teenager, then I understand. If not, then I’m just sharing with a musical community out of love; no harm, no foul.

Again, I repeat: this is classical music we’re talking about. I still can’t wrap my head around this one. I knew the day YouTube was aquired by Google that things would go south. I am sorry to say that my prediction was proven true, so close to my heart.