are you posting on YouTube ?

[d halfnote]

I'm planning a few things & would like to get thoughts & experiences from any members posting on YT or with their own channels.

Particularly in both the areas of © & cover versions but also in regard to original music .

[KHAN]

This is the Channel I made for my former cover band. (I'm on hiatus from gigging right now, Not ready to call it retirement at 52). I put up a few demos I recorded on my home rig, and the live tracks were just a zoom hand held recorder in the room.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/RuckusParty

 

I recently converted some VHS of my old Floyd tribute from 2000. So I whipped up this channel.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLbSdHljZH5a0UyAMtb0JPw

 

 

My experience is that is that it's hard to get many views. Really they're just there for the band members, friends and family. I've never tried to push an original project, but I assume that's similar as far as views.

 

I do like to be able to access something I've put so much in to over the years from anywhere. And that's how I approach YouTube.

[d halfnote]

What I'm most interested in initially is the legalities of posting cover versions of tunes.

 

I have only begun looking at YT as a promotional tool, separate from a sales site.

 

I've learned there are a number of possibilities to promote material there (including several on-site tools for monetizing views, etc) but that they seem to have stringent rules abt proper use of © material.

For example if yer channels sited more than twice for unauthorized material, you can be banned.

 

That seems a bit odd since there's no dearth of cover versions, how-to-play, etc., posted there ... so I wonder if that means that they only care if yer posting a direct copy of, say, Hendrix's "May This Be Love" or Beatles material (all recently scrubbed from YT) or Prince tracks, (ALWAYS diligently pulled from the site).

[KHAN]

I had an issue where the first 2 times I uploaded the Floyd Tribute videos, Youtube made them unavailable in my country (USA). For some reason the third time was a charm.

 

The message that I got was that my videos contained copyrighted materials, but would be allowed to be viewed. No idea why.

 

The other cover songs either got no copyright claim or the same as the Floyd stuff. None have been blocked or removed.

 

Obviously you can't monetize cover songs, but I guess the best I can tell you from experience is upload some and see what happens.

[d halfnote]

Thanks !

 

I think you prolly can monetize non-original music presuming that you get the proper releases or pay royalties (which, of course , cuts into the profitability, except as a promotional tool.

 

FWIW, I do both original material & extremely rearranged covers often involving new parts, so the covers can be vital for connecting w/ an audience that likes that material.

 

Come on, gotta be someone else here with something to add....?

[skipclone 1]

I have a youtube channel but have been too busy with other stuff to make much use of it. Also-correct me if I`m wrong here, I haven`t done it yet-it seems kind of a pain to collect email addresses from people you want to authorize to watch a video. Sending them the link should authorize them automatically.

 

It`s kind of weird looking back on the days when anything was fair game for downloading-like an online childhood. But as someone with original material, I can definitely see how that is not a good thing.

[Larryz]

I have never set up a YouTube account and therefor I can't really describe the steps one needs to take in order to do so. There are instructions on-line on how to do it. I have bought a rockabilly lesson plan DVD(s) after researching various instructors on YT. Many of them do not use their YT accounts as their primary account. They use YT accounts to advertise their own sites where you can sign up for on-line lessons or buy their DVD's. The guy I found on YT that does a great job of teaching has an account on EBay. It was easy to buy his product using PayPal or a credit card. He contacted me directly on my email with regard to my order. I have another Jazz instructor that I discovered on YT and have bought a couple of his DVD's as well. So, if I were going to monetize a product on YT, I would consider setting up my own website or Ebay account.

 

There are a lot of artists (and/or their heirs) that are having their unauthorized copyrighted material on YT taken down. There are some YT rules that I would need to investigate before posting my own covers if my purpose was to make money. I would file a copyright on any original material before posting on YT. Although, some might say that the 1st date of recording could be proved on YT? Perhaps DannyA will chime in on this concept...

[skipclone 1]

FWIW my take on that is, that creating something does establish a copyright-until you have to prove it. In the event that you have to defend your claim from infringement, are you going to use a legal document or a youtube video? falsifying a legal document is a crime. The idea of the same thing with a video, was lost in Photoshop`s rear view mirror years ago.

[A String]

I have been into the whole YT thing for a while now, doing gaming videos. I have seen MANY channels get shut down. The way it works is simple. If you post copyrighted music, in it's original form, YT's filters can pick it up and mute the audio. As for covers, you can post them, but if the original owner of the song comes by and hears it and files a claim, it will be taken down and you are contacted to give you the opportunity to fight the claim (if you believe it is in error). If you get enough videos taken down, then close your channel and ban you for life.

 

As for the validity of using YT for proving you are the owner of an original? That would really be up to the courts and, given the fact that YT has a date and time of upload, and as long as your judge isn't 100 year old dude who is technologically challenged, then I could see it being used in a trial. However, I am not, personally, familiar with any precedent. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist though.

[Larryz]

I have heard stories that back in the day, guys would mail themselves a copy of original sheet music and the postmark would hold up in future copyright claims. They did the same thing with audio tapes (i.e. mailing themselves a copy along with a copy to the copyright office). I was thinking that one could email themselves a copy of their YT posting and save the screen prints and accomplish the same thing. Since YT may take your account down at anytime or go out of business some day, I think you would need to prove it existed at one time, if that is all you were relying upon. I would think a copyright would be a good idea for an original tune, and then make it public information with a YT clip as a back up maybe?

[d halfnote]

Thanks, Craig & Skip.

 

To reiterate, I'm looking for the experiences or observations of those familiar with the promotional use of YT & / or what happens to those cited for © violations.

 

I find it kinda odd that there's such a proliferation of covers & how-to-play vids.

 

Got all the info I need for how to handle my own © as well as how to do the basics of channels set but thanx anyway.

[A String]

As I mentioned, if you post an original and it's in the YT auto filters, it will get picked up and the audio will be auto muted. If it's a cover song then you are good unless the song's owner posts a claim. Then the video is taken down and you are sent an email. If you get enough complaints, they shut your channel down.

 

[Hyps]

I post covers on YT and have no problem

 

*Links removed*

[Larryz]

Welcome aboard Hyps!

[A String]

I post covers on YT and have no problem

 

*Links removed*

 

That makes you lucky. It does not set precedence for what is legal.

 

I notice you have your song links shared in the "post your music here..." thread. That is the appropriate place for them. I have removed the links from here.