Can you help me restore 2 videos improperly DMCA'd?Please Note: I am not a lawyer and nothing in this site should be taken as legal advice. Check out my top 10 list of things that make more sense than taking legal advice from me. |
You might think that I exaggerate when I imply that Youtube holds its contributors in contempt. Maybe I don't have the whole picture, but I've seen enough to make me wonder if they really have the well-being of their contributors in mind. I am posting my correspondence with their legal department so you can judge for yourself.
Some background information: I have had three videos removed for copyright (if you count a two-part video as one video.) The first was in December 2006 when I used clips of redskull's videos to prove he was lying when he claimed he was getting death threats over the phone--probably from fans of famous Youtubers renetto and Boh3m3. My use of clips from his video were fair use, but I didn't write to Youtube to protest this.
My second "infraction" occurred when redskull DMCAd a two part video that used only snapshots of messages he sent to me using several of his sock puppets. I am guessing he didn't appreciate my exposing him for being behind these sock puppets, though it is possible that he DMCAd it for some other reason. He had left it untouched for several months before he sent in the DMCA
And my last DMCA was for a video that Firefly515 made. In that video, he encouraged everyone who saw it to repost it. Fortunately, I can show you a copy of this video because several other Youtubers made copies of it and uploaded it to their accounts. You can see watch the video that got my account suspended, with a small introduction added to it by Stephanreu, here. Pay attention to what he is saying between 2:54 and 3:33.
Redskull did not have a copyright on this video, and he committed perjury by sending in a false DMCA. As you will see, Youtube rewards those who perjure themselves by removing their opponent's videos and suspending their accounts.
Now, I'm not saying that the good folks at Youtube are intentionally rewarding perjury. I doubt Harry the Youtube Lawyerbot gets up in the morning and says to himself, "What a glorious day it is to reward perjurers! Bwahahahaha!" But whether they intend to reward perjury or not, their policy and their behavior does just that.
Below is my correspondence with Youtube's legal department after my second and third "violations".
YouTube | Broadcast Yourself™
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 claiming that this material is infringing:
Theredskull's sockpuppets and his lies about me:Pt. 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ses1sKxdsw
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 avoid future strikes against your account, 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.
Copyright © 2007 YouTube, Inc.
YouTube | Broadcast Yourself™
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 claiming that this material is infringing:
The redskull's sockpuppets and his lies: Pt. 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8DkvOpZvo4
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 avoid future strikes against your account, 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.
Copyright © 2007 YouTube, Inc.
| Date: | Wed, 5 Sep 2007 20:44:06 -0700 (PDT) |
| From: | "The Masked Analyst" <themaskedanalyst@yahoo.com> |
| Subject: | Can you help me restore 2 videos improperly DMCA'd? |
| To: | copyright@youtube.com |
| CC: | abuse@Youtube.com, editor@Youtube.com |
Dear Youtube Copyright Abuse Lawyers,
I have received notices that two videos were removed for copyright violation:
Theredskull's sockpuppets and his lies about me:Pt. 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ses1sKxdsw
The redskull's sockpuppets and his lies: Pt. 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8DkvOpZvo4
I believe the person who DMCAd these videos was Jxxxx Dxxxxxx, who has gone by the aliases redskulled, theredskull, and probably at least a fifteen other aliases.
Can you verify that Mr. Dxxxxxx was indeed the person who sent in a DMCA takedown notice? I would like to file a counternotification except there is one problem. Mr. Dxxxxxx has issued death threats against others and he has made a veiled death threat against me within the past two months.
I am in a bind since I can't file a Counternotification without signing my name to a legal document, which you will then turn over to Mr. Dxxxxxx I believe Mr. Dxxxxxx is mentally unstable and though his threat is probably a bluff, I can not rule out that he will carry it out. He has expressed several times his desire to see me dead.
My videos did not contain any video clips of his. They did contain screenshots of some pms that he sent me which I used to prove that he had used various sockpuppets to harass and theaten others. In fact, I have made numerous videos discussing his harassment of others and his abuse of the DMCA process. For this, I believe, he wants to see me dead.
I have never had my account suspended before, but I fear that with these videos worngfully taken down I am in jeopardy of losing my account. Mr. Dxxxxxx, on the other hand, must have had at least a half a dozen different accounts suspended.
I am attaching a letter outlinining some of Mr. Dxxxxxx's abuses that I sent Steve Chen around July 21, 2007
If Mr. Dxxxxxx is behind the DMCA takedown notice then I am sure he is abusing the DMCA process for the following reasons:
1) He is trying to get rid of evidence of his wrongdoing that I documented in my videos.
2) He is trying to get me suspended as revenge for my documenting his abuses.
3) He is trying to get my name, address, and phone number with the intent to harass, and possibly kill me.
I have done nothing wrong, and I can back up my claims. Can you help me keep my account and restore my videos without my having to sign my real name to a legal document and have you turn over my identifying information to him?
Can I file a counternotice and sign my name as "Publius"? Our Founding Fathers recognized the importance of being able to speak anonymously. In fact, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay signed the Federalist Papers as Publius because they feared retribution from the British and their sympathisers.
If you will not work with me to sustain my account and file a counternotice anonymously then you will be giving terrorists free reign over Youtube. You will, in effect, be stating that all someone has to do to get a video that they don't like removed is to make a death threat against the person who sent in the video and file a bogus DMCA complaint. Is that what you really want to do? This would be a terrible precedent for Youtube.
Sincerely,
themaskedanalyst
Dear XXXX,
For the counter notification to be complete item D needs to be for
filled.
If you're trying to file an objection to a copyright takedown, please
review our copyright hints at http://youtube.com/t/dmca_policy. Please
be aware that any counternotice we receive will be forwarded to the
party who issued the takedown notice; hence, your identity will be
revealed. Also, before deciding to send a counternotice please be sure you
understand that you can be held liable in court for a false counternotice.
A formal objection must include four specific elements listed below.
(A) A physical or electronic signature of the subscriber.
(B) Identification of the material that has been removed or to which
access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared
before it was removed or access to it was disabled.
(C) A statement under penalty of perjury that the subscriber has a good
faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of
mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled.
(D) The subscriber's name, address, and telephone number, and a
statement that the subscriber consents to the jurisdiction of Federal
District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located, or
if the subscriber's address is outside of the United States, for any
judicial district in which the service provider may be found, and that
the subscriber will accept service of process from the person who
provided notification under subsection (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person.
Sincerely,
Harry
The YouTube Team
Dear Harry,
Your letter has been quite unsatisfactory. I wonder if you even bothered to read my letter or the special circumstances surrounding it. You didn't even bother to tell me who it was that filed the original DMCA complaint
This information is extremely relevant, because I BELIEVE the person who filed the complaint was Jxxxx Dxxxxxx (redskull). If this is the case, he has made a veiled death threat against me and explicit threats of violence against others. I know for a fact that my videos fall under Fair Use and that I could win a case in court. However, due to the threats that Mr. Dxxxxxx has made, I don't want him to have my real name.
Is it Youtube policy to reward internet terrorists by honoring their questionable DMCA's and then putting the person who's video is removed in the position of possibly risking their life if they file a Counternotice? If so, then who is safe from terrorism?
Might I remind you that McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm'n (93-986), 514 U.S. 334 (1995) recognized the right to be able to speak on political topics anonymously. Though my videos pertaining to redskull were not political, I have also spoken on political topics such as the relation of Islam to the Western World. Based on Mr. Dxxxxxx's past behavior, he will spread this information all over Youtube, thus stripping the anonymity from my political speach as well.
If you can't help me work around this situation then you might as well declare Free Speech dead on Youtube since you have provided those willing to make death threats the tool to remove any video that they don't like.
So at the very least, will you at least tell me WHO it is that filed the DMCA? I have been told by others who have dealt with your office that this is something you normally do.
Best wishes,
Themaskedanalyst
Dear Xxxx,
We received notification from Jxxxx Dxxxxxx. When we're notified that
a
particular video uploaded to our site infringes another's copyright, we
remove the material as the law requires. If you feel a content owner
has
misidentified your content as infringing, you may file a DMCA
counter-notification.
For more information, visit our Copyright Tips page,
http://youtube.com/t/dmca_policy.
Sincerely,
Harry
The YouTube Team
Dear Harry,
Thank you for informing me that it was indeed Jxxxx Dxxxxxx who filed the DMCA. I know all about Youtube's policy, and I have read trough the relevant portions of the DMCA. You claim that you are required by law to remove the video upon receipt of a DMCA. I am sorry, but you are WRONG! It is Youtube's POLICY to take down the video-- the DMCA does not REQUIRE you to do so by law. Let's face it--if you don't remove the video, jackbooted thugs from the FCC aren't going to invade Youtube and haul you off to jail. The DMCA provides you immunity from lawsuits, and you CHOOSE to comply with the DMCA to prevent a lawsuit, from Mr. Dxxxxxx in this instance. But please, at least acknowledge that this is a policy choice and not something that you are FORCED to do by law. Youtube has moral culpabilities for its actions, and you can not evade the fact by saying your hand is forced by law.
It is YOUR POLICY to force someone to forgo their constitutionally guaranteed right to speak anonymously if they want to counter a DMCA—even if doing so would subject them to harassment at best, and possibly murder. It is YOUR POLICY to act in a way that aids and abets internet terrorists. Now, I am not saying that this is what you INTEND to do, but whether you like it or not, that is the ultimate result that YOUR POLICY has.
And you don’t have to follow this POLICY, especially in this extreme case. What are the odds that Jxxxx Dxxxxxx will actually try to sue Youtube? I’d say zero, especially considering how he has violated Youtube’s rules numerous times—including rules against threatening others. And if he did try to sue you, he has given you more than enough grounds to countersue him.
But I know this doesn’t matter to you. Talking to you is like talking to a robot that is only capable of following a precise script to the letter. You really should be ashamed of the way your CHOICE undermines free speech and aids an internet terrorist.
But I will ask you this—and you have absolutely no excuse not to do it. If my account is in danger of being suspended because of my “Copyright violations”, please take into account that I was following Fair Use guidelines for documenting abuses against Youtube’s users. Also keep in mind that I WOULD HAVE filed a Counternotice had I been opposed by someone who didn’t make terrorist threats. There is no doubt whatsoever that I would win in Court because my videos fall squarely within the Fair Use exception of copyright law. I hope you will at least try to be fair, especially in an area where the law gives you considerably more discretion on how to act.
Best wishes,
XXXX
What follows is the notice for my third "infringement". This "infringement" was what caused me to lose my account permanently.
YouTube | Broadcast Yourself™
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 claiming that this material is infringing:
Firefly515 Asked Me To Upload This Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGnHbBXBtjs
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 avoid future strikes against your account, 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.
Copyright © 2007 YouTube, Inc.
Dear Youtube Copyright Team,
Could you tell me who filed the DMCA notice on this video? I know I had permission to post it. In fact, had you bothered to watch the video that I was suspended over, you will see that the creator of the video that I uploaded expressly ASKED others to make copies of his video and repost it for him. He wanted to get his message out to as wide an audience as possible. I am absolutely certain that the person who owns the copyright on this video did not file the DMCA notice against me.
Thank you for your help in this matter,
Themaskedanalyst
Note the name David Lavelle used on the DMCA. I never heard the name before. I suspected it was a false name, and I later found out that redskull (Jxxxx Dxxxxxx) actually filed the DMCA
Hi there,
We received notification from David Lavelle. When we're notified that a
particular video uploaded to our site infringes another's copyright, we
remove the material as the law requires. If you feel a content owner
has
misidentified your content as infringing, you may file a
counter-notification.
For more information, please visit the Help Center page about
counter-notifications, http://www.youtube.com/t/dmca_policy
Sincerely,
Harry
The YouTube Team
Hi Harry,
The DMCA that was filed against me was a false one. If you were to look at the video that got me suspended, you would see that it was made by Firelfy515. In that video, he was BEGGING others to repost his video. I certainly had his permission to repost it.
I have just been in touch with Firefly515 and he has told me that he did not file a DMCA.
Do you have a phone number, and address of this David Lavelle? I would like to check to see if he provided a real address and phone number.
Thank you,
Themaskedanalyst
Am I the only one who thinks Harry's reply to my above letter could have been a bit more responsive? Note the name in the "From" field is from "David Mumbly", while the letter is signed by "David Lavelle". That should have been a sign to Harry that there might be something wrong with the DMCA. Note also that it was sent from a "Firefly5155@yahoo.com account, whereas the real Firefly's account is "Firefly515" (one less 5 at the end.)
Hi there,
The DMCA claim made against the material from your account is listed
below.
Sincerely,
Harry
The YouTube Team
From: "Dave Mumbly" <firefly5155@yahoo.com>
To: copyright@youtube.com
Date: Dec, 12/11/2007 18:25
Subject: Copyright Infringement Notification
Ticket Id: 223043201
Queue: Copyright - DMCA - Complete
1. I am the owner of a particular video that is being used without my
permission. A user named themaskedanalyst has used one of my videos
without my permission. I am no longer on youtube but when I was there I
had a series of videos, this user has reuploaded the video without my
permission
2. The video can be found at this link which has been uploaded without
my
permission: http://youtube.com/watch?v=hGnHbBXBtjs
The video in its original form is no longer on the internet as it has
been
removed.
3. You can contact the user at his particular channel where the video
has
been uploaded.
4. You can contact them at this channel http://youtube.com/user
/themaskedanalyst
5. I have good faith belief that use of the material in the manner
complained of is not authorized by me, the copyright owner, its agent,
or
the law.
6. The information in the notice is accurate, and under penalty of
perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of
the
owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
thank you
David Lavelle
On February 3, I received a letter from redskull. I am only including the first paragraph from it, since that is the only relevant part.
From: redskull@hushmail.com
To: themaskedanalyst@hushmail.com
Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2008 13:51:02 -0500Yes I had you banned and I am sorry. If I could take it back I
would. You many not believe it, but I would.
Armed with this confession, I decided to see if Harry the Youtube Lawyerbot would be more reasonable.
| Date: | Fri, 8 Feb 2008 10:49:01 -0800 (PST) |
| From: | "The Masked Analyst" <themaskedanalyst@yahoo.com> |
| Subject: | Re: [#223160006] |