DMCA Horror Stories: Driven off YouTube by overzealous claims

DMCA Horror Stories

Driven off YouTube by overzelous claims

I am a staff member for a convention down in Hampton Roads, and one of our programs includes a karaoke contest. Many of our contestants like to have their song recorded to show friends and family later, but I can’t post any of those anymore, because they will all be pulled immediately for one reason or another. It has gotten to the point that I can’t even post the cosplay contests anymore either because something will cause them to be pulled, be it the costumes or a snippet of song. There was a brilliant performance in 2015 that I couldn’t post because they made a reference to the Lion King, and I knew that would be pulled in a heart beat.

I don’t make money off of my site. I only want to share my love for music and anime with more than my little corner of the world. But that’s impossible I can’t keep a thirty-second clip online for more than a few hours.

Takedown abuse has gone too far.

For years, huge companies like Sony, Disney, and Comcast have been abusing the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) to take down enormous swaths of online content, using automated software that ignores Fair Use rights and frequently misidentifies music and videos as copyrighted. Despite the fact that the system is already weighted in their favor, these companies are arguing that the DMCA doesn’t go far enough to give them control over online content. It's time to fight back against takedown abuse!

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