[youtube]GbwVkEd6NTQ[/youtube]
Let this be a warning to all YouTubers: Don’t post any recordings from SST Records unless you want to risk losing your account. According to our sources, the hammer is coming down. Although the musicians usually own the publishing rights to the music, it appears SST owns the SST recordings (as well as publishing rights to Black Flag, Gone and other Greg Ginn projects). We intend to follow up with SST for clarification. YouTube follows a strict policy:
“Any time YouTube receives notice that a video or any part of a video on our site infringes the copyrights of a third party, we will take it down from the site. We are required to do so by law. Accounts determined to be repeat infringers may be subject to termination. Users with suspended or terminated accounts are prohibited from creating new accounts or accessing YouTube’s community features.”
Terminated accounts especially suck for Vloggers, filmakers and videographers who have years of accumulated works, comments and followers. If your video has been taken down, check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation for more information. According to the information on the site, if your video includes an SST recording, don’t bother – you are probably SOL. If your video includes live footage of non-Ginn bands (that is also not included on an SST live recording) you may have reason to submit a counter-notice. Be warned, it then becomes a case of put up or shut up. The claimant then has 2 weeks to sue you or allow your video to be restored. Are you willing to take it to the mat?
Some of the complaints I’m aware of are against things w/questionable SST content, such as live versions of the Minutemen’s Corona that have never been officially released. (I’m guessing he went after Corona in a wide sweep since there are so many Jackass clips out there.)
Since Ginn owns the original recording but not publishing, it would seems he’s not within his rights to take that down. Mike Watt, who owns Minutemen publishing along with D Boon’s dad, has a known pro-taper policy, and in one case had given the poster express permission for live recordings to be shared for free trading.
But from what I saw on the EFF site linked above, you can’t counter a claim without placing yourself in harm’s way – once you ask, the the other party has two weeks to file a lawsuit. If they don’t, YouTube has to restore your video. But Ginn will take it all the way and go to court, everyone knows. How bad do you want to hang onto your channel? How much easier is it to take the clip down than even make a phone call to a lawyer?
It strikes me as an abuse of authority, not to mention a highly ironic position on “fair use” from the label that brought us Negativland. Des he really think that 3 seconds of the instrumental Corona as a background music for wacky stunts is cutting into his sales of Double Nickels On The Dime?
Well the next question is, does the punk community respond by treating Ginn as the new Lars Ulrich, the anti-fan asshole? I’m glued to my screen waiting for the results.