Tag Archives: copyright infringement

Copyright Infringement (again…)

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Dear ArtRavels:

We have disabled the following material as a result of a third-party notification from Cunningham Dance Foundation claiming that this material is infringing:
Merce Cunningham’s Nearly Ninety
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-UpJziweJQ

This is the second copyright strike against your account. A single additional claim against your account will result in the termination of your account. To avoid this, delete any videos to which you do not own the rights, and refrain from uploading additional videos that infringe on the copyrights of others. For more information about YouTube‘s copyright policy, please read the Copyright Tips guide.

If one of your postings has been misidentified as infringing, you may submit a counter-notification. Information about this process is in our Help Center.Please note that under Section 512(f) of the Copyright Act, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material was disabled due to mistake or misidentification may be liable for damages.

Sincerely,
— The YouTube Team

Yesterday I received that email. This being the second infringement, I must seem like quite a hooligan. The first video removed for copyright included clips from The Public Theater’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. After learning a lot about Actor’s Equity I was less surprised that my video was taken down. It’s probably for the best, if only because the stream of comments (which on Youtube seem to be inordinately nasty) was starting to get to me.

This video was also a clip of a performance–about 2 minutes from what I recall–of Merce Cunningham’s Nearly Ninety, a performance that happened shortly before the choreographer’s death. I don’t know if there is a Dancer’s Equity involved, but again it’s disappointing. I posted it with the best of intents: to share something awesome that a lot of people hadn’t had the opportunity to see. Because it was such a short clip giving full credits to the organization and because I wasn’t trying to capitalize on it any way, I’m unclear how it harms the Cunningham Dance Foundation. I suppose if I were them I might argue that I make the performance look bad, with my grainy clips taken from my nosebleed seat of a few to 30 seconds breaking up the flow of the piece. I’m amazed that somebody noticed my video of a year or so ago at all, and then proceeded to take action to have it removed.

Le sigh…

Copyright: Who owns Mickey?

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Call me a libertine, but I’m pretty open about the spread of images and their appropriation and reuse. So is this website Illegal Art, featuring projects like Ashley Holt’s Notmickey above. The art projects featured there have run into trouble for infringing copyright, and usually it’s with corporate entities who wish to protect and retain the only rights to Mickey Mouse, Viagra, or Starbucks. At some point, I would think cultural icons become public property rather than corporate property. I’m not sure where that point is.

The thing is, copyright protects individuals as well as corporations. The artists might feel differently were I to take their projects, like Notmickey, and claim them as my own and use them to create ads for Disney or sell t-shirts. (Or maybe they wouldn’t.)

At any rate, the Illegal Art website has some really interesting projects to illuminate these theoretical issues. My favorite? Four years ago, University of Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod trademarked the phrase “Freedom of Expression”–then hired a lawyer to sue for infringement.