Monday, February 24, 2014

ASMR After The Battle: Why I had to take the version I was proud of down, and why I had to reupload.

Hi everyone.  Only a few people know about what has been happening with my "After The Battle" video, and it's come to a point that I need for everyone to know, because I had to remove it.  The new version can be found here:  

                              

I uploaded "After The Battle" on December 21/22ish.  It was the result of months of prep and planning, and a straight month of work that was new to me.  It was the first video I ever cried while making:  I had no experience doing visual effects, I was teaching myself using tutorials online---and I would get very frustrated if I couldn't figure something out, or if I messed up something that would look like 2 seconds to you---but really took HOURS to create.  I had to render and rerender clips OVER AND OVER, piece by piece---but I did it, and I was very proud of it.  The response to it was so positive and encouraging, and it made all those hard moments worth it.

On Dec 23rd I went into my video manager and found something I had never seen before---a notification on "After The Battle" that said "matched third party content."  If you know me, you know I NEVER use material that isn't licensed for free use---and I am meticulous about that (ex: I took down my first upload of the Candy Queen Role Play because a picture of ice cream in the background wasn't creative commons free use licensed, built an entire new background for it, and redid it.  I don't play around with anything that could jeopardize my channel).  So I knew right away that someone had made a mistake in claiming my video.

Two music networks had put visual content claims on my After The Battle video---on parts of the video I had specifically chosen because they were free use, from an exclusively free use site.  I began to do research about the networks that were claiming my video, and found HUNDREDS of testimonies from people whose videos had been claimed by the same networks.  Claims were made on their original videos, or their original music---even one guy's original documentary he made in the 80's.

But why would these networks do this?  I kept researching.  This is what I came to understand:  the claims they place on videos keep the videos public---but instead of the content creator getting the revenue from their work, the network gets the revenue. You only get one shot at disputing a claim, but they are given a month from the moment you dispute the claim to even look at your dispute, and should they maintain the claim, you're pretty much out of luck.  They can also put their ads on your video, and direct people to their site.  They don't have to prove the material is theirs in the same way we do if we file a copyright claim---they run programs that sweep youtube videos for anything they might be able to claim, and they take advantage of how hard it is to get support to intervene---so many never had their claims removed.  Essentially it's video hijacking, and they do it all the time---sometimes causing people to lose/leave their channels.

After I did my research on the practice of what they did and the individual companies that did them, I went to "war."  I wrote Partner Support, the free use site whose license agreement they were breaking by laying claim to free use content, I found the networks' email addresses and headquarters phone numbers, I made phone calls every hour, and I even had their staff making phone calls and emailing on my behalf---because I was not going away until my video was mine again.  After 8-10 hours of relentless correspondence, the claims were lifted.  I was ECSTATIC.  I jumped around and clapped---I even cried a little.

I thought that I had "won" and I wouldn't have to worry about this again.  I was wrong.

In the two months that my video has been up, four claims have been placed on it---all on the free use clips in it.  Every time this happens, I have to devote time and energy I would rather be spending any other way to fighting the claims, researching the networks, tracking down contact info, writing to Support, etc.  It causes me a great deal of unwanted stress, and a TON of unwanted anger.  It makes maintaining my channel feel like I have to keep putting out fires, instead of being warmed by all the positive aspects of being a content creator.

Last night I got my fourth Third Party Claim on After The Battle, and I decided I cannot do this anymore.  I can't continue to have to defend my content in this way.  No one stops these large networks from making these fraudulent claims, and once they do, you're basically at their whim waiting to see what the fate of your content is---cause you no longer have the rights to your work.

Even though every single claim made to my video was released, I felt more and more helpless.  After defending my content in every way I could, I went into my editing program, pulled up the video I had worked SO HARD on, and edited out every second of free use footage in it.  Did this make me sad?  Yes, very.  Do I think that it's worth it to be able to continue feeling safe and happy about making content?  Absolutely.  

I hope you all understand why I had to do this.  The video I made with me in it is still 100% intact, just the intro and the "therapy" parts of it are a black screen. I am sorry that the version you get now is "less" than the one I labored over---but I am doing what I think is right to protect my happiness, my time, my energy, and my channel.

Thanks for reading.    





64 comments:

  1. Wow. That's ridiculous and I'm sorry you had to go to such lengths just to keep up the amazing video!

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    1. I'm sorry you went though such hell from all this Miss Feather, Do you copy right your vids? If not, I highly recommend you do, because there are allot of fools who are to crazy for other peoples work, and who don't give a hoot and a haler what anyone says. Again I'm truly sorry you wen't through all that..

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    2. Content doesn't need to be explicitly copyrighted, it is copyrighted to the author the moment it is created. Hence if you want to allow people to copy your work under specific licences or circumstances, you display those licences so people can see what they can and can't do with your work (e.g. GPL, MIT, Public Domain, CC, CC by Attribution, etc).

      Delete
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  2. I'm not sure how expensive it is, but perhaps you could look into copyrighting your channel? You really don't deserve to go through all this trouble because other people are thieves and keep trying to take credit for your hard work.

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    1. When someone makes work that they own then it's copyrighted. Her channel is copyrighted by the copyright act 1988. No one pays for copy right.

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  3. Damn, I've heard a few of these things on channels lately, totalbiscuit (a pretty well known game reviewer on youtube) has made a pretty big video about this and is also been revoking comments from being posted on his video's ... I hope that this will get better in the future but seeing how things are going I fear the worst... I'm really sorry that content creators have to endure this bullsh*t while the only true reason of the video is to make people happy ... it's sad that company's do this to just earn a little money ... just dont let this get you down!

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  4. wow, i'm really sorry Heather. it's horrible that people/groups can benefit off of other people's hard work without any real claim. i really enjoyed that video and it showed that a lot of work went into it. i hope you don't have to deal with this again in the future.

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  5. Thanks for updating us on what was happening with this video. I’m posting this here because I don’t want to pollute your YouTube channel with any kind of negative comments. I normally don’t respond like this but I’ve been seeing a growing trend and I just want to tell you are not alone with this kind of hijacking. I have been seeing an increase in large companies doing sweeps like this not only on YouTube but in other markets as well. The Copyright laws in the United States are very outdated which leaves a lot of open holes these companies exploit. It is sad and despicable that these companies use their money & lawyers to strong arm the Mom & Pop setups, Indi Developers, and Content Creators out of the hard work they have created. It is just another step/hurdle that has to be overcome and I believe you made the only decision you could in dealing with it. I hope you are not affected by this with any of your future content. Your work is very much appreciated do not let this dispute effect you.

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    1. I don't think the copyright laws are outdated as much as they're simply unenforceable on the internet. The playing field is just too vast! There's just so much content out there, and so many people trying to claim that content, that there can be no infrastructure to handle unethical activity like this - unless that infrastructure comes from the company itself (like Youtube). Currently, the company is set up to reward the giant networks, at the expense of the independent content creator. :/ If that doesn't change, we're going to need to find a different community, one that respects the creators who are keeping them in business.

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    2. I'm actually seeing this happen out side of YouTube and off the internet mostly with Indi game developers. The big companies essentially steal the Indi developers work then buy up any copyrights related to the game. Then they use it in court to slow the process down to the point where the developers run out of money to sustain the lawsuit and thus lose the rights to there work. It's sad to see the system abused like this, but until the system is fixed or the developers lobby for change it will continue to happen.

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  6. The whole systems fucked man.

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  7. It's such a pain, the way I've gotten around music claims and stick it to "the man" is including MIDI format tunes of songs I want to use. YT doesn't detect them yet so I get the music I want in a lower format but serves the purpose I require. The thing is the music I use is from the show of the item I'm reviewing, so I don't feel too guilty.

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  8. Sorry to hear about it. What they do is so unfair. Thank you, Heather, for the extra work you have done for us. We looove you.

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  9. I'm so sorry, Heather. Some people just can't see that it's WRONG to screw people over for money. I hope they leave you alone :(

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  10. I saw a post recently by someone I subscribe to who does WoW video casts, it seems like you guys are getting the raw end of the deal. For me this post is positive as I haven't seen this RP in a while and I'm going to listen and enjoy it tonight. Keep being amazing and lovely and wonderful X

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  11. That is very frustrating and I'm sorry you had to go through that. Still, I think your fans understand what you had to do. It's a shame that this happens and I'm glad you wrote about it so other people can see it and compare experiences and let the news of this horrible practice spread.

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  12. I'm so sorry that happened. The video you made was beautiful.

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  13. I am so, so SO sorry after reading that. And a bit angry too. It's really unfair how we don't stnad chance against real bullies of nowadays.

    Do not stress, I still enjoy your video, maybe even more right now- when I know story behind it and how much trouble you had. Thanks a lot for your hard work!

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  14. This has been going on for a while, Heather. I'm not surprised you didn't see this before. How companies have been putting these bs claims on people's videos. It's been wrecking havoc over on the gaming side of Youtube, and has completely halted content from some people.

    Get your videos on other media forms like dailymotion. Free of Youtube's bs.

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  15. Maybe it's time to form some kind of union that can't be ignored by the decision makers. There is power in numbers.

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  16. Heather, I'm sorry that happened :/ but on a positive note, if you ever need free music that can't be claimed, I do composing on the side a bit (I mainly do voice over recordings and film by day - whee!) and would be happy to help! :D I do mostly symphonic/cinematic music, so if you ever need that just lemme know! For the peace of mind you and the other content creators have given me, it's the least I could do should the need ever arise. Thanks for being awesome and fighting the good fight! You got this ;) https://soundcloud.com/makoto-phoenix/i-miss-you-echo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTXWk_6piWQ&feature=c4-overview&list=UUREg1lsl1xApFQ_vfqmfpOw

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    1. These companies claim content that isn't even close to being theirs. The things she used in her videos can't be claimed, and were anyway so unfortunately using your music wouldn't help.

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  17. It's really sad, but all too common. The copyright system is totally BROKEN. They cast a wide net knowing its infinitely harder for you to STOP them than it is for them to submit a claim, which takes them seconds. It's guilty until proven innocent. It makes me sad that you have fallen victim to that crap too. That was a really cool video and it sucks you had to strip it down. :(

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  18. So sorry you've had to go through all this, it's so unfair and wrong.you put in some amazing work and I hope it all calms down now.

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  19. I'm so sorry to hear about all of this :( It makes me really sad and frustrated at the people who think they can just bully their way onto such quality videos like that. I hope you don't have to deal with that anymore.

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  20. Land of the [actually not very] Free and all that.
    But putting your country's lousy "rights" aside, I'm assuming the networks are American of course, would you consider uploading the original somewhere else? You'll still be getting revenue from the edited video and it would be such shame that the work you put so many hours in can not be seen as it was originally intended any more.
    Sorry about mentioning the politics if they annoy you, it's just how I see it.

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  21. LOOOOOOOVE YOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU!!!!. i know stuff like this has been happening to a lot of gaming channels but i hadn't realize other content was being hijacked as well. it is horrible you had to go through that and i hope it never happens again.

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  23. The ASMR community has a website, but it streams from YouTube. Damn if only there was a way to host the videos directly on the site without having to pay loads of money for host fees. selling t shirts like other channels do wouldnt work so well on the ASMR community. No, sorry I thought I had a decent idea but i guess i dont. Damn.

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    1. Ive thought some more into it. Can asmrhub.com host the occasional video that gets flagged on YouTube? If so, you can all make re-uploads on YouTube like you have done here, but overlaying that with gigantic annotations which links to the uncut video on the website, which reads something like "CLICK HERE FOR UNCUT VERSION'. I dunno. I'm just throwing out ideas.

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    2. Host the uncut video here on your blog. But my original idea would save all of you artists from the anguish of YouTube.

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    3. Hosting isn't that expensive. I have a high end server (2014 Quad core Xeon, 32GB of RAM, etc) capable of hosting many sites with a lot of concurrent visitors and a nice 20TB per month bandwidth allowance and it costs me <£40 a month.

      I think people stick with YouTube for the visibility, but in reality it's a pretty terrible platform. You've got no support in any way.

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  24. Sounds as if it's the difference between free use and royalty free. People give away things for free for use in non-profit scernarios, yet they still own the rights with the material. Creative Commons licensing may be the safer material to use. Then there is fair use, which is probably exclusive against creative works and applicable with commentaries and documentaries. I am no lawyer.

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    1. Yeah I double checked that. Creative Commons publishers may still hold rights in reserve. Public domain, is technically the only thing I can think of without purchasing the rights. Royalty free.

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  25. That's horrible! I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I'm sure everyone will completely understand why you did what you did and hopefully that will stop all this harassment so you don't have to stress about it anymore.

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  26. If you find somewhere else to start posting your videos, please let us know. I think a lot of us will follow you there.

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  27. This sucks Heather! I really hate that a video you worked so hard on would have to be edited down because someone is trying to screw you over. Your hard work really showed in this video, and it is one of my favorite ones.

    I'm glad, for your sake, that you made the decision to edit and reupload. I cannot imagine dealing with the constant battle all the time. Many others would've just pulled the video and admitted defeat.

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  28. Man this really makes me angry. The supposed intent for intellectual property is to give incentives to inventors, artists, and other creators to create as much as possible, and yet here is just one example of many where the current laws have allowed powerful companies to troll an independent content creator and actually stifle creation. Nobody should have to worry about whether they might be sued or harassed every time they try to create something. I'm glad you tried to fight the good fight and stuck to your principles, I don't know if I could have dealt with that much harassment.

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  29. You have my empathy. You are a wonder beyond wonders. I wish I could send you some strength. I just worry, what happens when you have millions of subscribers and some of the people commenting are people powerful enough to start wars? You may have to have a PR department. You may then long for the day when you had a hundred or so, subscribers, You have my best regards.

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  30. Must have been a tough decision but if it was causing you a lot of stress you did the right thing. I've always wanted to put gaming stuff on youtube and recently got together everything I needed to do it. Then this content id stuff started happening and managed to put me off completely.

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  31. Video game channels have been dealing with this for years. It is wrong that Youtube allows this to go on.

    One of the worst examples I recall was The Co-Optional Podcast's video getting a strike for showing a video game advertisement for a game they were talking about.

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  32. I feel you, Heather! I once uploaded videos of myself singing the National Anthem at an event, completely a cappella, and had claims all over them saying I had stolen content from CD recordings of the song! Sorry, but I'm not THAT good of a singer! :)

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  34. Hey hun
    I truly enjoyed the original, and the repost obviously, but I do think its a shame that people can pass their content on as "free"
    I myself am a DJ and producer, I use free samples as well as purchased samples, a lot of which I process, chop up, rearrange and resample, but over in Soundcloud, we had a similar problem with uploading tracks that where originals, where people would claim that they either created the track or evened the processed sounds.
    This caused uproar for producers offering their music for free download and having to just resort to using clips to advertise there music and have people fork out money for something that is free

    I myself only produce to play to people who attend my gigs. That or play outload on my phone to friends, who, if they enjoy it, can have a copy of it.

    I also have problems with uploading my music onto youtube, as I had finished one track, uploaded it and with 1 hour, as I was having a cigarette, a student of the same college had downloaded it off youtube and was playing it outload.

    Im not a violent person, but I wanted to beat him senseless. I managed to persuade him to pay me for the track, although it sounds like I was being a little harsh, I didn't want someone getting my track for free. Expecially since it took months to produce it.

    But other than that, I don't just love your videos, I'm inlove with them. You and all the other ASMRists have inspired me, and because of which, I have created a new channel for my own videos, of which I start on Friday.

    And, I will also using ASMR sounds in my future productions

    Love you lots heather, and keep on tingling
    Xx

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  35. That's so lame, but don't let them stifle your ideas or your creativity! I can only speak for myself, but I think everyone who watches you channel really enjoys all your original content and supports what's you do.

    Keep up the awesome work!

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  36. That's a damn shame. Those visuals were actually one of the best parts of the video for me--those kind of lights and sounds are a great trigger for me. But I don't blame you in the least for giving up the fight. You deserve to be able to focus on doing what you love and not fighting these jerks.

    Thank you for what you do--your work has literally helped me sleep on a normal schedule and stopped migraines, and it's amazing. I look forward to every new video.

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  37. Sorry that happened to you. Keep up the good fight! Fight evil with good. Your videos are excellent. Love your bloopers too. Hope it all works out for you. Would hate to see you leave YouTube. All the best!!

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  38. Their greed is dispicable, but we can at least be glad we're not like them. Thanks for making all these great videos Heather :)

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  39. It's okay Heather, don't stress about the video being "less". It can never be less than best, because you're in it! :D

    You're awesome, sorry you went through so much stress, your happiness comes first.

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  40. It's sad that YouTube has these ridiculous restrictions. It seems you give us a lot of effort to help relax ourselves but don't forget yourself too! We appreciate all the hard work that went into your amazing videos and your brilliant skill set in making them. You have a wonderful craft and these claims are just trying to damper that. I'm glad that you decided to edit out the content that was giving you issues. It was too much stress on you and we'd really have at YouTube's policy if anything happened to your account! Although as a content artist I understand how it may feel to just up and edit work you spent hours on. Horrible feeling but we're happy with your artistry nonetheless. You have many supporters that understand your frustration and wish you the best in your projects as well as health. Don't feel bad!

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  41. aww sweetheart that's terrible i have problems like that too on my old channel i had to abandon it cause of trolling, im sorry someone would ever do that to you human nature is so bland and ignorant i know that your videos are 100% legit and i know for a fact that the people who ever did it to you is going to have a karma overload i love your videos i appreciate everyone of them i even get excited to see a new upload of yours to see what you thought of next . you are a very sweet girl don't let those quote on quote "Bastards" push you around you are a strong capable woman you have the right for your videos to be there and keep that shinning happy face on those videos cause with one smile millions are sure to fallow

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  42. pirate party policy

    Ban copyrights and demolish corporations trying to enforce these. plus be armed and create militias willing to physically take down these corporations and any corrupt politician working for these corporations.

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  43. I'm angry about the way unscrupulous thieves rort a system forced on YT to protect legitimate copyrights. You have my full support and sympathy. Karma level +10 ♥

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  45. Hello Heather,

    I've been watching your Role Play's for a while now, but never really felt the need to comment. Hearing about his though, I felt the need to offer my two sense. I've been seeing this happen to many producers on Youtube in the last few months, most notably one of my favorite game reviewers, Angry Joe.

    If you'd like to vicariously share in his rage at this system, check this video of his out - > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQfHdasuWtI

    I just wanted you to be aware that the situation is not the fault of the content producers, but of Youtube. Basically, the companies just provide Youtube with access to a library of their "copyrighted" content. Youtube's automated system then searches for anything it thinks matches these libraries, and flags them if it finds a match.

    Sadly, the companies have no control over this flagging, just telling Youtube whether to block videos that are caught or to claim them for the company. Each individual case is handled bu the Youtube system.

    Many content companies, specifically video game companies, are having their content flagged in producers videos, when they don't even WANT to flag any videos and actively encourage the use of their content under Fair Use Law.

    Sadly, it is not the companies, but Youtube's broken automated system that causes this problem. The other issue, which may be the one you encountered, is that anyone can basically flag anything whether they own it or not as Youtube's system is, as mentioned, automatic, and doesn't know or care who anyone is until someone like you fights back.

    I encourage you Heather to keep fighting, and not to let it get to you. You are not alone. Thousands of people are being affected by this, but if everyone stands strong, the independent producers of Youtube can and WILL win.

    I am saddened that I couldn't see the original Battle Suit Role Play before it was taken down, but I hope to see many more great role plays and other videos from you, so we can continue to hear your wonderful voice.

    P.S. - I think I've got it. ASMR Science is operated by Mystical Feather, who is also behind most of the other "groups" seen in the role plays, and she herself secretly works for the Candy Queen. Am I close? :P

    - James Phoenix of The X-Pound

    (sorry if this double posts!)

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  46. Thank you for all the work you do, Heather. I find myself pulling up your videos more than any others because of the fun, professional, intricate, soothing work you do. I'm sorry about this Battle over After the Battle. I loved the original version, though it took me a little time to warm up to it. I still enjoy listening to the new version, and the best part is that many of your original visuals are still in my mind's eye. They can't take those away. ;-)

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  47. Disgusting. Hope all is well with you now Heather.

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  48. Just know that no matter what happens, loyal subscribers and those who appreciate your craft (such as myself), will always you support you.

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  49. And the video is still just as good

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  50. Hey, so I know that I'm literally 3 YEARS late to this post, lol, but if you ever have another video that companies keep ContentID-ing/claiming like this, you DO have another option available to you other than just taking the video down.

    Video game critic Jim Sterling actually discovered this technique last year, which he calls the "Copyright Deadlock." ...and yes, it STILL WORKS!

    Essentially, if you can reliably trigger a ContentID match from at LEAST two different companies who both wish to take your ad money from the video, the ad money can't go to both, so instead ads are just disabled on the video and NO ONE makes any money from it. It's one way you can essentially burn the house down and take everyone with you...without actually having to take the video/house down itself.

    This is apparently actually easier to do than one might imagine...simply insert at the end of the video any random, 30-second clip from any trailer for any games published by Nintendo and then follow it up with any random, 30-second clip from any trailer for any games published by Konami, and that'll usually do the trick. You can also use ~30-second clips of any song published by one large record label and follow it up with a ~30-second video from a competing record label. (This last variation on the technique even works with the music being used as background music.)

    I mean, it kind of sucks because you won't make any money off of the video, but at least you can rest easy knowing that THEY aren't taking it, either.

    Jim Sterling actually details the technique in this YouTube video here, if anybody's interested:

    https://youtu.be/cK8i6aMG9VM

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  51. Hello Heather, I'm a certified NLP practitioner, and I really do love your work. There are only maybe 3 other ASMR people that can totally relax me...you were first!!
    I love what you do,
    sincerely,
    Amichai J. Schneller

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  52. I'm sorry to hear that you had to endure so much nonsense from a faceless, parasitic entity. Hearing about nightmares like this provides me with extra motivation to watch your clever, painstakingly created videos.

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    ReplyDelete