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Copyright Claims for the holidays

Hey everyone,

more work is being done on the videos, but in the meantime, I’m getting trouble from the BBC and a record label for videos Ross’s Game Dungeon: Potty Pigeon and Ross’s Game Dungeon: Quarantine, respectively. In both cases, they’re laying copyright claims on my videos for the following:

-In Potty Pigeon I used a small segment from the show “All Creatures Great And Small” in order to illustrate the origin of the theme music from the game.
-In Quarantine I played some of the track “The Driver Is You” by The Fauves since it was part of the soundtrack to the game and I wanted to discuss the lyrics to the song.

In both cases, this use of copyright material is 100% Fair Use. Both instances were short clips, were used for illustrative purposes to make a point about the source content, and did not detract from the commercial value of the source material. It doesn’t get clearer than this. Since receiving those claims, I’ve disputed them, however in both cases, they’ve come back reinstating their claim. My next course of action would be to appeal the rejected dispute, however I have to pause on this, because if I’m not careful I can be sued over this.

I’ve followed this guide in the past for all erroneous copyright claims made against me over the years as it contains a lot of good information:

However, this is the first time I’ve had to escalate a rejected dispute and while that would normally not be of concern to me, it just hit me that I’m living in Poland and not the USA, so trying to claim this on USA Fair Use law might get me into trouble. From Youtube’s own appeal form:

“You originally disputed the claim based on fair use. Please explain why your use of content is subject to fair use, fair dealing, or a similar exception to copyright protection under the law of your country.”

While laws are not equal for every country, if any Youtubers who have experience with this or copyright law experts in the European Union have advice on how I should proceed in order to reclaim my videos, please let me know ([email protected] ). I imagine the procedure is similar as in the United States, but I need to know specifically which law applies to this, since the DMCA is only for the USA. It’s no secret what a mess Youtube’s copyright system is and how it enables companies to essentially bully video creators as the copyright holders are clearly not doing their homework on this, but I haven’t had to go through the full legal process like this before. It probably won’t be the last.

- - -

ADHD Version: Ross has bogus copyright claims against him, but he only knows how to handle this in the USA, not Europe. He could use help with that.

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Didn't you live at the time of posting those videos in the USA? Also, aren't you still a citizen of USA?

People who see life as anything more than pure entertainment are missing the point.

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I was not in the USA at the time of posting, however yes, I am absolutely still a citizen of the United States (I'm not a citizen of Poland, only a resident), however my Youtube account is connected to my residence in Poland.

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How is this a thing if you're still a sovereign citizen? Because since he isn't a Polish citizen it's technically like a really really long vacation right? If I escalate a claim in Cancun because I'm on vacation it shouldn't matter.

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im no legal expert by any means, but fair use is pretty similar to what it is in USA in EU in basic principle. Of course in EU its bit more complex because individual nations still have their own laws about it, but generally they dont differ hugely due to interests of EU economy. While main base still can be considered 2001 Copyright directive for EU approach, lately EU nations & EU as whole has been rapidly moving toward way more flexible laws (in fact losing roaming fees short time ago in EU was another step toward more flexible connection laws in general). And its still important to stress that legislation differs from country to country. Still, its worth noting that ACTA & COPA (remember those? big deal few years back) tried to unify legislation on these parts but worst possible way.

If i can reccommend something is to dig through some EU copyright directives. I do hope i was some help here though

Jack O'Neill: "You know Teal'c, if we dont find a way out of this soon, im gonna lose it. Lose it... it means go crazy. nuts. insane. bonzo. no longer in possession of ones faculties. 3 fries short of a happy meal. WACKO!!!!!!!!"

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Well... I'm pretty tired, and I'm reading an automatically translated document, but this: https://www.prawo.pl/dz-u-akt/-/dokument/Dz.U.2017.880%20t.j./16795787/2219500 seems to be what you're looking for, article 29. [The Right To Quote]. "It is permissible to quote excerpts of popular works and popular works of art, photographic works or small pieces in their entirety to the extent that they are justified by the purposes of the quotation, such as explanation, polemics, critical or scientific analysis, teaching or the rights of the creative genre."

 

But like I said, I'm pretty tired. I was pretty stumped by the registration page trying to register to post this, so I could be way off.

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This is why I download all your videos. This is probably a stupid idea, but you could release the videos to someone who does live in the US and who is willing to tell the worthless garbage to go hang themselves.

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I'm getting trouble from the BBC and a record label for videos Ross's Game Dungeon: Potty Pigeon and Ross's Game Dungeon: Quarantine, respectively.

Makes my blood boil.

But anyway, I don't know if it'll help much, but the Polish (perhaps Magda can help you translate that) wikisource has the law in question for Poland.

https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Prawo_autorskie

there it stands:

 

Rozdział 1: Przedmiot prawa autorskiego

Art. 29.

Wolno przytaczać w utworach stanowiących samoistną całość urywki rozpowszechnionych utworów rozpowszechnione utwory plastyczne, utwory fotograficzne lub drobne utwory w całości, w zakresie uzasadnionym celami cytatu, takimi jak wyjaśnianie, polemika, analiza krytyczna lub naukowa, nauczanie lub prawami gatunku twórczości.

 

which basically says, if I'm not mistaken, that you're allowed to use parts of some works for reasons of explaining, discussing, analyzing, criticising or teaching.

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I've appealed both disputes. If it's helpful to anyone, here's what I sent for my appeal:

 

Quarantine:

The music in dispute is covered under Articles 25 and Articles 29 of Polish Copyright Law:

 

Article 25: It shall be permitted, for informative purposes, to disseminate through the press, radio and television the materials... reviews of publications and disseminated works

Article 29: It shall be permitted to quote, in works constituting an independent whole, fragments of disseminated works or minor works in full, within the scope justified by explanation, critical analysis, teaching or the rights governing a given kind of creative activity.

 

The original document may be viewed here:

 

http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=408585

 

As the material in question is used for purposes of analysis and criticism, contain only a small portion of the original works, and are credited to their rightful copyright holders, this use of the music in the video "Ross's Game Dungeon: Quarantine" is in full accordance of Polish copyright law.

 

Furthermore, this falls under the spectrum of Copyright Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council which states

 

"Member States may provide for exceptions or limitations to the rights provided for in Articles 2 and 3 in the following cases: …d) quotations for purposes such as criticism or review, provided that they relate to a work or other subject-matter which has already been lawfully made available to the public, that, unless this turns out to be impossible, the source, including the author's name, is indicated, and that their use is in accordance with fair practice, and to the extent required by the specific purpose"

 

These laws may be viewed here:

 

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32001L0029:EN:HTML

 

Finally, according to the Berne Convention Article 10 (also known as right to quote) "it shall be permissible to make quotations from a work which has already been lawfully made available to the public, provided that their making is compatible with fair practice, and their extent does not exceed that justified by the purpose."

 

http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/text.jsp?file_id=283698#P144_26032

 

Thank you for taking the time to verify the clip to see my usage does not violate copyright.

 

 

 

 

Potty Pigeon:

The footage in dispute is covered under Articles 25 and Articles 29 of Polish Copyright Law:

 

Article 25: It shall be permitted, for informative purposes, to disseminate through the press, radio and television the materials... reviews of publications and disseminated works

 

The original document may be viewed here:

 

http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=408585

 

As the material in question is used for quotation purposes and to further analysis of the source material, contains only a small portion of the original works, and are credited to their rightful copyright holders, this use of the footage in the video "Ross's Game Dungeon: Potty Pigeon" is in full accordance of Polish copyright law.

 

Furthermore, this falls under the spectrum of Copyright Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council which states

 

"Member States may provide for exceptions or limitations to the rights provided for in Articles 2 and 3 in the following cases: …d) quotations for purposes such as criticism or review, provided that they relate to a work or other subject-matter which has already been lawfully made available to the public, that, unless this turns out to be impossible, the source, including the author's name, is indicated, and that their use is in accordance with fair practice, and to the extent required by the specific purpose"

 

These laws may be viewed here:

 

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32001L0029:EN:HTML

 

Finally, according to the Berne Convention Article 10 (also known as right to quote) "it shall be permissible to make quotations from a work which has already been lawfully made available to the public, provided that their making is compatible with fair practice, and their extent does not exceed that justified by the purpose."

 

Viewable here:

 

http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/text.jsp?file_id=283698#P144_26032

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to verify the clip to see my usage does not violate copyright.

 

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...when I read this my first reaction was "I'm amazed someone copyright-claimed Potty Pigeon".

 

But yeah, I'd mirror dmmaxwell's statement on contacting Leonard French, although I don't know how far he could help in considering the international aspects. He seems to be YT's current legal expert in copyright cases, and has outlined and dealt with some of the more absurd suits in recent history (including getting sucked into that Alex Mauer fiasco, the poor guy). Sadly, YT has next to no oversight, so unless things go absolutely berserk they throw their algorithms at the problem and hope that fixes it.

 

The BBC I can understand, and maybe they're pushing because they don't want their content associated with a game called "Potty Pigeon". They're kinda assholes anyways when it comes to their content. (But the "All Creatures Great & Small" series is a good one regardless. So are the books, for that matter. But I digress...)

 

As for the other... no idea. I've never even heard of the band before, so I guess the studio is the one getting testy? Any idea who they are?

 

 

The other alternative would be to reupload the episodes with the content edited/removed, but that's equivalent to giving in and should only be used as a last resort.

 

Stay safe Ross, and have a Merry Christmas & a happy new year regardless!

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