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.
