Hi everyone, My blog is meant to be a lot of music and little bit of writing. I'm finding more and more videos I was once able to access on Youtube are now being "blocked in my country on copyright grounds" by Merlin Beggars. I'm in the UK. This for example isn't working for me anymore. I'm a little annoyed, obviously. Your suggestions will be appreciated.
I don’t think there is an easy way to do it if you want blog readers to see it. If there is any country where it isn’t blocked, you could use a proxy, I suppose, but all of your readers would have to do the same. And you could still be subject to infringement for posting the material. Probably best not to use copyrighted works in their entirety.
Thank you, Steerpike. The reason I'm asking is that some suggest their copyright claims aren't actually legal, or can at least be disputed. Apparently I should be seeking legal advice.
Fair Use is tough when you’re using the whole work. It’s based on various factors (at least in the U.S. There are difference in UK law, so that’s something to be aware of). If you were playing a snippet of a song for commentary then you’d have a stronger fair use argument. The problem with relying on YouTube videos, is your use doesn’t really matter. Whoever posted it to YouTube will have to have a Fair Use argument, and people who just post entire songs/videos almost never have a very strong argument for Fair Use. Also, when YouTube gets a complaint, they will take it down and it’s up to the person who posted it to argue back and prove Fair Use.
They have made deals with the artists and producers, how is that not legal? Billboard: Merlin represents 20,000 labels and distributors worldwide. I empathize with artists that don't want their music used for free all over the net. Writers are in the same boat.
Even if the copyright is disputed, I find it extremely unlikely that the video is public domain. Whether X owns it or Y owns it, somebody probably owns it, and the somebody probably isn't you.
It’s possible, in the U.S. Back then, there were certain notice requirements and renewal requirements that no longer exist under copyright law. When content owners didn’t follow those rules, works fell into the public domain (for example, some Conan stories for which the copyright was never renewed). But it takes a lot of work to research that and determine whether the formalities were all required with. YouTube certainly isn’t going to go through the trouble.
I too was having "back then" thoughts, but then I peered closer at the image; it looks modern to me. And if I search for "interpol precipitate" it appears that it's from 2001. I could, of course, be confused.
I can't argue with that. I'd pay to have the songs on my blog. What matters to me is to have the music because of what it says, and I don't know of other means to get that than using sites like youtube or vimeo. A paying platform, or system to have the songs on there would be a solution, and hopefully mean I wouldn't lose them.
Because I am a little behind my contemporaries when it comes to technology, I've just found out how to convert an MP3 into a video file, and make it look nice with a picture etc. So I purchased the song on its own, did the converting and then uploaded it onto vimeo. I've restricted the use of the video so that it can neither be downloaded nor added to albums, channels or groups. What do you think?
When I started my blog, I did some research into copyright and how it might affect me. This isn't the story that I originally found, but there are a number of similar ones about people grabbing images from the net and ending up in trouble. From the article: Emphasis mine. One photo. Good luck.
Personally I like the idea of copyright. But it has been abused so much that now. I am almost wanting a complete abandon of copyright laws.... Anyway. In your case you could simply contact the original author of the music. They can give you the right to us it. Also, fair use is often misunderstood. It typically only applies to reviews and parodies. You cannot argue fair right if it falls outside of that. Which I think you do. It also depends from country to country. Also. You can be prosecuted for breaching copyright if your content is viewed in another country with different laws. That’s is why YouTube blocks certain countries. So whilst you may not be infringing or breaching copyright in the UK. The same may not be said the USA or France or Zimbabwe.... just be careful. The best solution is simply get written permission form the rights holder.
However, the whole blocking thing could be because different entities hold the rights in different countries. I know of one SF author who also blogs who has talked about how his books are published by different houses in the UK and the US, I imagine the same might be true of music. Anything that goes on my proper blog is either created by me or from a source (like the US government which doesn't hold copyright on its photos) where I'm certain it's copyright free. I won't even link to youtube, just to be sure.
Thanks for all the comments. I want to make it as legal and respectful as possible to the artists (and yes, I'm a little ashamed of how naive it all sounded). I think contacting the authors is my best bet, though it may not always be feasible. Otherwise I'll need to think of other options for my blog.
