Vimeo To Launch Content ID

[John C. Chu]

It looks like Vimeo will have a content copyright ID system like YouTube very soon:

Vimeo to Launch Music Copyright ID System (Exclusive) | Billboard

It will be interesting to see how it is implemented. On YouTube, I have in the past used some royalty free songs from the iTunes music store and still get flagged. It might be the fault of the album being sold on iTunes, but annoying since one has to appeal and dispute.

[Jack Zhang]

The soundtrack replacement option makes it just as bad as YouTube. What if the track you chose compliments the video? You're going to have to be forced to swap the audio with something completely mis-matching to ensure the audio can stay.

Very bad move. Any Content ID is a form of post-editing DRM in my opinion.

[Noa Put]

But if you paid for a license to use that music it won't be removed, it maybe could be by mistake but then you just inform vimeo about it and show the license. If it is removed in any other case it means you don't have a license meaning you didn't pay for the music, so it's normal the music gets removed, it's actually about time Vimeo starts doing this.

[Jack Zhang]

Do you realize how hard it is to do that on YouTube? Royalty-free tracks are often banned from viewing in Germany too. This system puts new strain as it doesn't even serve ads when no license is found, it just forces an Audioswap. True it seems fair, but the resulting track will never match what the creator originally set for the video. (and let's not go into the "Too bad" arguments, please.)

And what about creative remixes of multiple copyrighted sources that are covered under fair use? Under the current Vimeo system, that goes through human moderation, then possibly the actual courts.

Some young people find a creative outlet making "mash-up" edits generally called Anime Music Videos. Before Youtube introduced ID, this was everywhere and gave young people a good creative outlet. When the ID system came, it meant AMVs had to move elsewhere. I guarantee human moderators will not allow AMVs under fair use.

Also, let's not forget Buffy vs Edward. Copyright In The Twilight Zone: The Strange Case Of 'Buffy Versus Edward' - Forbes This was a setting point in the grounds of fair use, and it even got in trouble with the ID system.

There are no wins for creativity, but massive wins for over-protection with any automated content fingerprinting system.

The DMCA is enough. Any layers on top of that were all forced by peer pressure from industry.

[Noa Put]

There is no and never will be any common reasoning behind the the laws they are trying to enforce on the users and it's all about grabbing as much money as they can, it's all one big mess of unclear rules and regulations and there are so many differences per country what can and cannot apply.

My only frustration has been that I pay for a license for all my music online for the videos I have on vimeo, but a lot of my local competitors don't, they just use top50 music like they please and that is finally going to stop so at least it will be a fair competition. Unless ofcourse they move on to another provider that keeps their eyes and ears closed like vimeo has done in the past.

[Jack Zhang]

The worst part is all videos will be processed this way, so even private rough cuts you're sending to clients will be affected. This won't sit over well. And remember that people PAY to use Vimeo too, unlike YouTube.

[Mark Williams]

I have licences or use creative commons music for all my videos. In a couple of cases I have email permission for a composer. But the problem is with content ID I may have to go thru all the trouble to research back several years to find them. I am not looking forward to this. I am interested in moving forward making new videos and not spending time validating old ones.

[John Richard]

We use a lot of Smartsound music that we have legitimate licenses for ... but YouTube always flags them and we have to appeal. PIA

[Jack Zhang]

Guess what, Audible Magic is also used by YouTube... So there's no escaping initial flags.

[Darren Levine]

copyright with creative works is always going to be up for debate. While direct permission is never a bad idea, if someone's using something not for profit on a small creative piece, then it's questionable exactly what's being taken advantage of. It used to be that anyone listing a song for free play was clearly at fault, but now with youtube having tons of mainstream songs available for play, even with the advertising stuff it seems if someone wants to listen to song, they can do so many times for free.

Vimeo's policy does take a lot of that into consideration for Fair Use, but we'll see how they end up handling it.

If my clients ask for mainstream music for the video, i outline the considerations for doing so, and have them provide the tracks, my contract states that the client is responsible for such legalities. Sometimes a client will pay for a cut using both, so if one gets the legal smackdown, they have the other to use.

in the end, it's always safer to use 100% original stuff, but if that were always the case, i imagine some good musicians wouldn't spread quite as well

[Noa Put]

If my clients ask for mainstream music for the video, i outline the considerations for doing so, and have them provide the tracks, my contract states that the client is responsible for such legalities. Sometimes a client will pay for a cut using both, so if one gets the legal smackdown, they have the other to use.

Does your client also supply a license to you? Here at least I am the end responsible so if I would use music supplied by my client and if it would be used online I still stay responsible for it if my client would not have licensed it properly. Especially for online use I don't accept any music without a clear license.

[Darren Levine]

That's an interesting law. but how/has it been enforced? If i produce a piece for a company, it's up to them what to do with it once it's delivered, online or not. but you're saying that if you did just that, and the company supplied false licenses, you'd be liable? If it's being resold, then absolutely there's an issue, still though that's the company doing the reselling, not you. for what i was referencing, i'm referring to strictly end user/not for profit ended videos

[Noa Put]

That's what I was told when I contacted Sabam, our Belgian society of authors, composers and publishers, no matter what music I use in my productions it should be licensed and it is up to me to secure the needed licenses. Incase they would get a hold of one of my dvd's it's up to me to proof I have a valid license, if my client can't supply it to me (in case they just don't have any) I have to sue them, but Sabam will hold me responsible and will request any open fees from me, the person the produced and sold the video.

[Ryan Douthit]

Interesting that many of the really negative comments in the Vimeo discussion thread are from producers that frequently use pop music in videos that are clearly commercial in nature, or are used in connection with sites that are commercial in nature. (*cough* EOSHD *cough*) Okay, maybe it's not all that surprising. ;)

Though, to be fair, when so many have 'honed their craft' under the laissez-fare world of Vimeo distribution, it's possible many of them aren't to blame for having such a poor (entitled?) grasp of copyright. I can't wait to see how this affects the drift video scene - one of the major abusers of unlicensed tracks that called Vimeo home.

That said, I don't think Vimeo should sell a Pro service that is clearly promoted as a way to send proofs to clients (just one of many features), and then subject those proofs to copyright scans. It seems very counter-intuitive to their product. Also, as I've been hit with false claims on YouTube for licensed music, the system will undoubtedly be a nuisance, even for legit licensed tracks. Earlier I changed my VOD system from Vimeo Pro to Vzaar.com and though it's considerably more expensive than Vimeo Pro - I use a custom package based on their Enterprise offering - the service is excellent and playback (especially on my Roku app) is significantly faster than Vimeo Pro. Good ad engine, too. If you want options for client video playback, the world isn't short of them these days.

[Noa Put]

I wonder how existing videos will be processed, lets say you have got over a 100 videos online and they all have properly licensed music, as I understood there will be a process for new videos that you upload but if the Copyright Match system flags all your old videos as having copyright issues, eventhough you have valid licenses, would that mean all will be taken off-line until you prove them wrong? I"m checking my website everyday now just to see if my existing videos keep playing.