Copyright Police

The story is: I did post my video on youtube. It was up for about a week. Then, I happened to check my channel, and saw that it was gone. I investigated further, and discovered that it had been flagged as using copyrighted material. Specifically, the audio track. I thought it might be because I had left in some of the Justice League's audio. It seems that the type of videos I make are generally accepted by Warner Brothers, but if I tried to, say, put up a full episode, they would not be pleased. At least, that's the impression I get, since there are a lot of music videos which use clips from these shows.

I had a passing fantasy that my video would be reviewed by Bruce Timm, the producer of Justice League and Batman the Animated Series, (I have a bit of a crush on him) and he would contact me and tell me what a brilliant job I did, and would I like to come work for him?

Then I woke up. Why would Bruce Timm take care of little things like possible copyright infringement? He wouldn't.

There is, however, a video (not mine, but one of my favorites) which uses scanned comic book art. If you scroll through the comments, you see that the artist watched and enjoyed it. Ever since then, I've imagined that the staff of DC comics animated often sit around and watch the various videos on youtube whenever they have a break, or are in need of inspiration.

I have gone completely off-topic.

Anyway, it turns out, the problem wasn't with the clips, but with the song. Youtube has blocked my video. I can dispute the claim, but I don't see how. I am using this song without permission, although I did buy it on iTunes. In fact, I own all the material I use in these videos, and try to discourage pirating.

Someone made a comment on one of my videos asking if a particular episode of Justice League was on youtube, or some other illegal downloading site. I recommended that they buy the DVD set. "I own all four sets, and they're worth it. It's a great show." Whether or not they listened, I have no idea.

It should also be pointed out that the first time I even heard of Justice League, was on youtube. I was so impressed with what I saw there, that I went out and bought the DVDs. That's what I call 'free advertising'. I have since bought just about everything that Bruce Timm has worked on.

I have also often heard a song on youtube, that I have then gone to purchase myself. Holding Out for a Hero by Jennifer Saunders, was one of those. I heard the song used in a different video, really liked it, and ended up buying the entire album on iTunes.

Perhaps it is copyright infringement. But as far as I can see, they're cutting off their nose to spite their face. Just doesn't seem worth it.

Oh, and, just for fun, go to youtube and type in "Holding Out for a Hero Jennifer Saunders", and see how many videos come up. It looks like about 43, and that's probably not all of them because some people don't credit the artist. So, why did they go after me?

Later,
Jules

PS- You can still watch my video here. I doubt the copyright police will stumble across my little blog. And it lives on my computer, so I can watch it anytime I want. Nyah nyah nyah boo boo!