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Zeckul is down

ZeckulZeckul Member Posts: 1,036
edited December 2013 in Off-Topic
Some may remember me for my role-playing Let's Plays, notably Baldur's Gate and Mask of the Betrayer. My Youtube channel was www.youtube.com/HDGamingReplays. Some people actually wrote good stuff about it: http://bloodygoodgames.com/best-lets-play-baldurs-gate-1-videos-want-to-play-on-insane-difficulty/

Well, that channel was apparently closed recently, as I discovered tonight. I received no email from Youtube about it. Here is what I wrote tonight to copyright@youtube.com:
Hello,

my Youtube channel "Zeckul" (https://www.youtube.com/user/HDGamingReplays) was closed "due to grave or repeated non-respect of terms of use". I believe this is a mistake.

I have received no notification of a copyright strike on my channel. I have received 7 Content ID matches, but in each and every case, the email I received explicitely stated that this had no incidence on the status of my account.

I can only hypothetize that the Content ID matches were confused with Copyright Strikes by your system. I will list them here as a reference:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=at2xAqXq0aQ

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l1N6ROIoOs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKzcK2g1fzE

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSMN04H1jEQ

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVfKsaxrvTw

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA6EYAL5rHw

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrFuE2hGOEk

I must stress that for each of these, I received an email stating (in French): "Cette réclamation n'a pas d'incidence sur l'état de votre compte" (This reclamation has no incidence on the status of your account). I hope you understand that I could never expect my channel to be closed and every video on it to become unavailable as a result of these matches. I received no warning nor any notification after the fact. I only discovered it as I attempted to access the channel.

I therefore ask that the channel be re-opened, as it had no copyright strike and no indication of bad standing. I act in good faith and I will take down any video that Youtube may flag as infringing copyright.

[My coordinates and legal disclaimer followed.]
Yeah, this sucks. :/ Even though I wasn't very active on the channel these days, I still had about 1600 subscribers and quite a loyal following. My LPs were also pretty good stuff I think, it's a shame it's suddenly unavailable for everyone.

I still have all the original videos for most if not all the Let's Plays, so I could always open a new channel and re-upload everything. Still, that would take a very long time and be a total pain in the ass. Nevermind that I now have no way to reach all my subscribers to tell them.

Anyway, with this post here at least someone googling what's happening with me can find the information.

Any thoughts on the copyright notices? This is really fucked up.
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Comments

  • marcerormarceror Member Posts: 577
    I hope they reactivate your site. I enjoyed IWD2, MotB and the BGs quite a bit. I've heard of situations like this being reversed in the past.
  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155
    Bad thing man, I am sorry, just, IDK, now I want to watch your videos.
  • MessiMessi Member Posts: 738
    Seems to be going around in the last couple weeks. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/12/11/youtube-blocks-game-videos-industry-offers-help/
  • KaltzorKaltzor Member Posts: 1,050
    You know... If this turns into a mess of copyright talk... I would just like to state that as the copyright laws are for now, let's plays and all that are technically illegal (so much for all those "anti-piracy" laws doing it when it already is)... Most companies just understand that it works as free advertisement so they don't really bother with it...
  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    angry joe recently made a video that over 60 of his videos had copyright claims out of nowhere! this is a mess! i was hoping to one day start up my own channel when i graduate this year and get out of the house, but things youtube has been doing is almost pushing me away. i think it would be fun, but it is just a mess as of late.
  • CorianderCoriander Member Posts: 1,667
    Any notice on who the copyright claimant is?
  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    Coriander said:

    Any notice on who the copyright claimant is?

    it is generally youtube automated. like angryjoe showed the screenshot of his copyright notice on his tomb raider review, saying it was copyrighted by tombraider, although many of these companies are not doing so themselves. if the gameplay has songs that we released as a soundtrack, it may cause problems this way, as ubisoft has warned. developers including ubisoft, deep silver, blizzard, and capcom have told youtubers to dispute the claims and give them the url that they may get rid of the claim, because they didn't really do it, and of course it is free advertising. i bought starbound because i saw gameplay, making me ask around, and come around to buy. it works!

    @zeckul just try to find out who the copyright is from. many companies are working to clear this issue up. somebody really needs to come forward and provide youtube some competition!
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    Twitch

    Twitch is the future.

    YouTube can burn in Hell.

    They've been going downhill since Google bought them.
  • ZeckulZeckul Member Posts: 1,036
    Coriander said:

    Any notice on who the copyright claimant is?

    "AdRev for a 3rd party" - not even sure if it's bullshit. The videos with ContentID claims were from Icewind Dale 2, I think they matched the music.

  • rdarkenrdarken Member Posts: 660
    omg no! I love your channel :(
  • CorianderCoriander Member Posts: 1,667
    @Zeckul That's just lovely. I'd bet it was the music too. The Infinity Engine games have some complicated ownership, so I'm not sure we can find out if it's a legit claim from a copyright holder. If it was EE stuff we'd have a better chance.
  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    i think it is just time to rewrite copyright. it is difficult to call let's plays illegal or not under current copyright it is just so old! if we don't then i think this will keep happening.
  • marcerormarceror Member Posts: 577
    @zeckul Have they at least responded yet? They owe you a better explanation, at the very least!
  • ZeckulZeckul Member Posts: 1,036
    edited December 2013
    marceror said:

    @zeckul Have they at least responded yet? They owe you a better explanation, at the very least!

    Nope, nothing yet except an automated response.

  • rdarkenrdarken Member Posts: 660
    I just can't believe they shut it down without giving you any opportunity to take the videos down. it's like a police officer taking you straight to jail if someone complained that you stole his wallet.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    this is honestly really unfair. youtubers are having hundreds of videos flagged because of this stupid mess but yet they keep going, and somehow you are just automatically banned? do they have something against the small guys? I mean, over 1000 I wouldn't call small because that is pretty hard to get noticed like that, but in comparison to other guys?
  • h4n4h4n4 Member Posts: 1
    man im in fear of this! i need your channel back up^^ good luck
  • Kitteh_On_A_CloudKitteh_On_A_Cloud Member Posts: 1,629
    I heard about this from my boyfriend, who's also a Let's Player making video's on YouTube. YouTube is really shooting themselves in the foot this way. They'll lose a lot of money and fans too...
  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    edited December 2013
    Unfortunately there isn't a whole lot individuals can do about Youtube and its Google owners. Youtube is pretty much a monopoly for its market, and widely used around the world by individuals, companies and even governments.

    Ironically, I think there is actually a lot more market choice in China, where Youtube is banned, but there's several competing websites that more or less does what Youtube does.

    I hope the problem clears up... I was hoping to use Youtube to store whatever gameplay videos I make (I delete stuff right after upload, to clear disk space), as much for me to reminisce about many years down the line as anything else. That's not gonna work if Youtube randomly shuts down channels for obscure reasons.
  • ZeckulZeckul Member Posts: 1,036
    typo_tilly said:

    ack because of the music? -_- argh, that sucks.

    I hope you can get the videos up again. :(

    Honestly if the channel is to remain down forever I'm not sure I'll ever re-up the videos. It's dozens of gigabytes which would take literally months to upload and nothing guarantees Youtube won't just do the same thing again.

    Well, it was worth it for the time it lasted I guess. :(

  • LarkusLarkus Member Posts: 54
    My condolences, Zeckul.

    I enjoyed your videos.

    Best wishes
  • AdulAdul Member Posts: 2,002
    Wow, this really sucks. I came across your videos a few weeks ago and I bookmarked the page to watch them later because they seemed really good. So I went there today, found the account being deleted and then found this topic through Google.

    I am really sad about this. I wrote YouTube a letter and I do hope they restore your account and videos.
  • ZeckulZeckul Member Posts: 1,036
    Adul said:

    I am really sad about this. I wrote YouTube a letter and I do hope they restore your account and videos.

    I am very touched by this, thanks.

  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,215
    Have you read this?
    http://kotaku.com/heres-what-youtube-has-to-say-to-angry-youtubers-1485168478
  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    Pecca said:

    Have you read this?
    http://kotaku.com/heres-what-youtube-has-to-say-to-angry-youtubers-1485168478

    That statement by Youtube can basically be translated as "screw the little guy, big music corporations give us more $$$!"

    I mean it is absolute BS! They suggest that you take off ingame music when recording LPs?! Music is central to the gaming experience, it sets me mood. If it was so optional, why does every game and movie released have music tracks?!

    I can only hope that their statement is only to cover their ass legally, and they don't actually enforce these measures to an even more draconian level. It would totally destroy the concept of individuals recording and uploading videos, whether in gaming or for other hobbies. Which is what made Youtube so successful in the first place.

    Unless you make videos with no music, or you are talented/rich enough to compose/buy music, there is nothing you can do any more.
  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    now is the time for twitch to rise up I say. if they just allowed us to upload videos and search for them at any time, then it could easily just replace youtube until the moment they realize they aren't making enough money anymore because we moved to twitch. honestly that is the closest site we have to possibly take advantage of this situation. it is upsetting seeing new videos from the people I watch and have watched for years putting random sounds over copyrights and shutting off music and essentially ruining a part of the video because it will be copyrighted otherwise.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • marcerormarceror Member Posts: 577
    typo_tilly said:

    Bloody system isn't even proper, eh?

    Flagged this man's game - and he made it. :|
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJKhGl5DIDU

    Disgraceful.
  • MurrayConfederacyMurrayConfederacy Member Posts: 188
    Zeckul? Nooooo! Noooooo! This slight against our great Zeckul will not go unpunished! Youtube has made a grave mistake.
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