When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music at DVinfo.net

Andrew Smith · February 21st, 2021, 02:49 AM

Metallica were playing a slot in the opening ceremonies for BlizzCon, which is quite the big deal for players of games by Blizzard Entertainment. Very legit and above board, and with sufficient budget.

Naturally it was live streamed on multiple platforms. Not only do these platforms such as YouTube have the ability to detect and remove copyrighted music, the one at Twitch also has the ability swap in with music that won't bring any copyright grief to them. Better still, the inserted music was even in time with what it replaced.

Enjoy the hilarity of what happened next.

Andrew

Pete Cofrancesco · February 21st, 2021, 01:45 PM

LOL! Do you think they understand the irony?

Paul R Johnson · February 21st, 2021, 02:06 PM

I feel the pain - in my current copyright battle - my music on YouTube got a copyright claim registered against it by ....... me. The people who I no longer deal with as agents are still claiming my money. Youtube's system is very good at spotting your music, but you often still don't have control!

Andrew Smith · February 21st, 2021, 09:11 PM

Any particular reason for the "who I no longer deal with as agents" part? Just in case it's related.

Andrew

Paul R Johnson · February 22nd, 2021, 09:57 AM

Well - you asked. ALL my music, distributed by Dsitrokid - the biggest world wide aggregator got removed overnight - everywhere in the world. No explanations, no response to email - just removed - just when my sales were going from around 2000 streams a month to five million. The sudden increase was going to be very pleasant money wise, but no - my account got zeroed! I put lots back on youtube on my own personal account, not the one Distrokid set up. I then get copyright infringements - the music has been claimed by ....... Paul Johnson. They are not paying me, but have claimed the youtube revenue, on my behalf! The new distributer, Ditto are mnore complicated and reject everything for too few pixels, or mismatches in metadata between the track and the album art - and cannot have certain generic names in titles. Remember John Mile's Music song? My cover, all properly licenced, cannot be called "music" - I cannot have Concerto No. 21 - 21 is a numeric banned item. I also got one track called Jazzy G String deleted too - 'Jazzy' is out. Then - they deleted ALL the classical stuff because they are public domain - I tried to explain that there are thousands of pieces of classical music out there by Bach, Beethoven and the rest, and all are old - but no. So no classical. I have now found a third distributor who will take classical but they are so complicated. Today I also got a claim from A&M music for my licenced cover of a Carpenters song. I spent hours on the harmonies, the piano and flute solos making them as close to the original as I could. So close - they have determined I used the carpenters original music and they've pulled that.

With music it seems, as Metallica discovered, their computers make the decisions, and get reviewed by a human with 14 days. My streams were due to generate around $14,000 last week, rather than maybe 50-100 a month - people have told me this sudden increase triggered a takedown because it's suspicious - not my fault tiktok took one bit of music and went wild with it. Being in the UK, I'm also unable to take any kind of action because all these distributors are not in the UK, and deal in Dollars. So I am stuffed!

Andrew Smith · February 22nd, 2021, 12:38 PM

Isn't it amazing how the incompetent manage to prosper?

Probably quite telling that they don't have their office address listed on their web site. Might be a few people wanting to bypass the email response time and make a personal visit.

Andrew

Andrew Smith · February 22nd, 2021, 12:43 PM

Hey, they have a Twitter account and you could always leave them a nice message or two.

Plot twist: Others have had the same idea. https://twitter.com/DistroKid/status...87049906937867

Andrew

Paul R Johnson · February 22nd, 2021, 03:21 PM

They don't seem to respond to social media negatives either - there's a facebook group of disgruntled people, and I've joined that, but there's no point in getting angry with organisations who just don't care!

Andrew Smith · February 22nd, 2021, 03:45 PM

How did you find out about them in the beginning?

Andrew

Paul R Johnson · February 23rd, 2021, 10:31 AM

Biggest and most efficient aggregator - and I thought they were worth using and up till the problem, they were. Oh well!

Andrew Smith · February 23rd, 2021, 05:32 PM

I was thinking that say, if they were advertising in musician magazines etc, that would be a well targeted place to share the issues that yourself and many others are having. In other words, get their attention by messing with the effectiveness of their sales funnel.

In the very least you will be performing a public service by warning others.

Andrew

Pete Cofrancesco · February 23rd, 2021, 06:11 PM

I had no idea what Paul was talking about until I read an article explaining the issue. As far as I understand it you upload to an aggregator, they send your music to various platforms. The way you get paid on streaming services is how many people listen to your music. People then employ 3rd party companies that use bots to generate fake streams to generate revenue. These platforms combat this by blocking any content that this activity is detected.

Paul R Johnson · February 24th, 2021, 02:21 AM

The YouTube/Metallica thing just shows how the industry has changed in a few short years. A friend of mine is a technology Luddite. He moved to the USA when his UK chart success in the 70s got him invited to join a US band. Every year his royalties were pretty much his living for then till now, but about three years ago they took a dive and now he can’t live on the money any more. People are still listening to his music but by different methods the old ascap/PRS mechanical system can no longer keep up with. The new distribution system isnt a members organisation, it’s a paid for service, and the copyright owners are no longer the masters, but just customers.if mega bands like Metallica have had to hand over their products to outside control, plainly it doesn’t work. I bet their record company are fuming, but powerless. I have no way to make them pay me. They have all the cards, I have none!

Andrew Smith · November 26th, 2021, 12:46 AM

Did anything come of the Dsitrokid situation in the end?

Andrew

Paul R Johnson · November 27th, 2021, 08:45 AM

Well, basically, no! The account is still zero'd - the TikTok streams are still there and I get nothing. My options seem to be that I have to prove I didn't use a cheating method - which I didn't, but I'd have to fight it in the US courts and various comments tell me this just means they drag it out and out till my money runs out. So the Toal now is around 10 million, but I don't look that often any longer - it makes me angry! Running at less than 100$ in total a month from all the Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music etc to thousands of dollars in a week triggered the system and I can't prove it genuine - especially as most of the videos it is on are in foreign languages.

February 21st, 2021, 02:49 AM	#1
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,065	When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music Metallica were playing a slot in the opening ceremonies for BlizzCon, which is quite the big deal for players of games by Blizzard Entertainment. Very legit and above board, and with sufficient budget. Naturally it was live streamed on multiple platforms. Not only do these platforms such as YouTube have the ability to detect and remove copyrighted music, the one at Twitch also has the ability swap in with music that won't bring any copyright grief to them. Better still, the inserted music was even in time with what it replaced. Enjoy the hilarity of what happened next. Twitch Is Afraid Of Getting DMCA'd On Their Platform -Cuts Off Metallica.. - YouTube Andrew

February 21st, 2021, 01:45 PM	#2
Pete Cofrancesco Inner Circle Join Date: May 2004 Location: USA Posts: 3,005	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music LOL! Do you think they understand the irony?

February 21st, 2021, 02:06 PM	#3
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music I feel the pain - in my current copyright battle - my music on YouTube got a copyright claim registered against it by ....... me. The people who I no longer deal with as agents are still claiming my money. Youtube's system is very good at spotting your music, but you often still don't have control!

February 21st, 2021, 09:11 PM	#4
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,065	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music Any particular reason for the "who I no longer deal with as agents" part? Just in case it's related. Andrew

February 22nd, 2021, 09:57 AM	#5
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music Well - you asked. ALL my music, distributed by Dsitrokid - the biggest world wide aggregator got removed overnight - everywhere in the world. No explanations, no response to email - just removed - just when my sales were going from around 2000 streams a month to five million. The sudden increase was going to be very pleasant money wise, but no - my account got zeroed! I put lots back on youtube on my own personal account, not the one Distrokid set up. I then get copyright infringements - the music has been claimed by ....... Paul Johnson. They are not paying me, but have claimed the youtube revenue, on my behalf! The new distributer, Ditto are mnore complicated and reject everything for too few pixels, or mismatches in metadata between the track and the album art - and cannot have certain generic names in titles. Remember John Mile's Music song? My cover, all properly licenced, cannot be called "music" - I cannot have Concerto No. 21 - 21 is a numeric banned item. I also got one track called Jazzy G String deleted too - 'Jazzy' is out. Then - they deleted ALL the classical stuff because they are public domain - I tried to explain that there are thousands of pieces of classical music out there by Bach, Beethoven and the rest, and all are old - but no. So no classical. I have now found a third distributor who will take classical but they are so complicated. Today I also got a claim from A&M music for my licenced cover of a Carpenters song. I spent hours on the harmonies, the piano and flute solos making them as close to the original as I could. So close - they have determined I used the carpenters original music and they've pulled that. With music it seems, as Metallica discovered, their computers make the decisions, and get reviewed by a human with 14 days. My streams were due to generate around $14,000 last week, rather than maybe 50-100 a month - people have told me this sudden increase triggered a takedown because it's suspicious - not my fault tiktok took one bit of music and went wild with it. Being in the UK, I'm also unable to take any kind of action because all these distributors are not in the UK, and deal in Dollars. So I am stuffed!

February 22nd, 2021, 12:38 PM	#6
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,065	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music Isn't it amazing how the incompetent manage to prosper? Probably quite telling that they don't have their office address listed on their web site. Might be a few people wanting to bypass the email response time and make a personal visit. Andrew

February 22nd, 2021, 12:43 PM	#7
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,065	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music Hey, they have a Twitter account and you could always leave them a nice message or two. Plot twist: Others have had the same idea. https://twitter.com/DistroKid/status...87049906937867 Andrew

February 22nd, 2021, 03:21 PM	#8
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music They don't seem to respond to social media negatives either - there's a facebook group of disgruntled people, and I've joined that, but there's no point in getting angry with organisations who just don't care!

February 22nd, 2021, 03:45 PM	#9
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,065	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music How did you find out about them in the beginning? Andrew

February 23rd, 2021, 10:31 AM	#10
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music Biggest and most efficient aggregator - and I thought they were worth using and up till the problem, they were. Oh well!

February 23rd, 2021, 05:32 PM	#11
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,065	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music I was thinking that say, if they were advertising in musician magazines etc, that would be a well targeted place to share the issues that yourself and many others are having. In other words, get their attention by messing with the effectiveness of their sales funnel. In the very least you will be performing a public service by warning others. Andrew

February 23rd, 2021, 06:11 PM	#12
Pete Cofrancesco Inner Circle Join Date: May 2004 Location: USA Posts: 3,005	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music I had no idea what Paul was talking about until I read an article explaining the issue. As far as I understand it you upload to an aggregator, they send your music to various platforms. The way you get paid on streaming services is how many people listen to your music. People then employ 3rd party companies that use bots to generate fake streams to generate revenue. These platforms combat this by blocking any content that this activity is detected.

February 24th, 2021, 02:21 AM	#13
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music The YouTube/Metallica thing just shows how the industry has changed in a few short years. A friend of mine is a technology Luddite. He moved to the USA when his UK chart success in the 70s got him invited to join a US band. Every year his royalties were pretty much his living for then till now, but about three years ago they took a dive and now he can’t live on the money any more. People are still listening to his music but by different methods the old ascap/PRS mechanical system can no longer keep up with. The new distribution system isnt a members organisation, it’s a paid for service, and the copyright owners are no longer the masters, but just customers.if mega bands like Metallica have had to hand over their products to outside control, plainly it doesn’t work. I bet their record company are fuming, but powerless. I have no way to make them pay me. They have all the cards, I have none!

November 26th, 2021, 12:46 AM	#14
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,065	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music Did anything come of the Dsitrokid situation in the end? Andrew

November 27th, 2021, 08:45 AM	#15
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	Re: When copyright protection mechanism bite the bands who own the music Well, basically, no! The account is still zero'd - the TikTok streams are still there and I get nothing. My options seem to be that I have to prove I didn't use a cheating method - which I didn't, but I'd have to fight it in the US courts and various comments tell me this just means they drag it out and out till my money runs out. So the Toal now is around 10 million, but I don't look that often any longer - it makes me angry! Running at less than 100$ in total a month from all the Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music etc to thousands of dollars in a week triggered the system and I can't prove it genuine - especially as most of the videos it is on are in foreign languages.