Apparently I’ve infringed copyright…
This morning I received an e-mail from YouTube claiming that I’ve infringed upon copyright.
Now, I don’t use YouTube much, i’ve probably put no more than 10 videos up in all the years I’ve used it, and as far as I was aware, none of these were breaching copyright. The culprit video was entitled “Goo Goo Dolls - Give a Little Bit (Live!)” and was a recording that I took of the Goo Goo Dolls performing Give a Little Bit at the Carling Academy in Birmingham.
The person who claimed the infringement was apparently a guy called Roger Hodgson. A name that after googling I should probably have known, but I didn’t. So I wondered who this was - as far as I was aware, he was nothing to do with the Goo Goo Dolls, and I was right. Roger Hodgson is the guy who wrote the original version of Give a Little Bit, and member of Supertramp.
This brings up an interesting situation in my mind. At what point does copyright kick in? Roger Hodgson has clearly given the Goo Goo Dolls permission to use his song - it’s on one of their albums, and they regularly perform it at gigs. I clearly had permission to watch the original performance as I had bought a ticket, and there was nothing to stop me taking a video or photographs; in fact at points during the performance the ‘Dolls actively encouraged it. So in my mind this means that I have the right to this video. But I stick it on YouTube, and Roger Hodgson can have it removed. Now, I’m not really angry or even bothered by this at all - it’s not me who’s missing out on seeing it, it’s not me thats missing out on the potential publicity from the video, and it’s not me that’s missing out on the potential revenue that could come from a greater knowledge of this song.
Am I wrong? Should Roger Hodgson have the right to remove this song, even after he has passed the permission onto numerous others? Or should it be allowed to stay up? I’m not knowledgeable on copyright law, so I really don’t know, but I’m interested to hear other people’s opinions on this… I suppose the worst part of this is that there are a lot of other versions of this song on YouTube, both by the original artist, and by the Goo Goo Dolls (even at the same gig as I was at!)
Why is it me that has be singled out?!
You can find the text of the original e-mail after the break…
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 Roger Hodgson claiming that this material is infringing:
Goo Goo Dolls - Give a Little Bit (Live!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=m4LhzFuzRoU 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 prevent this from happening, 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.
