

Google to drop search rankings of sites with many takedown notices - nsns
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/08/google-to-drop-search-rankings-of-sites-with-many-takedown-notices/

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jdlshore
This concerns me, although maybe more than it should.

My experience with YouTube has been that rightsholders will lie about what
they own. Whether this is because they're malicious or lazy, I don't know. But
I do know that I've had many YouTube videos incorrectly claimed by music
rights agencies.

(To be clear, the videos in question are screencasts of me programming. The
only audio is my voice.)

When this happens, I have to dispute the claim. In one case [1], the
rightsholder confirmed ownership--even though the video is me _programming_
and the only audio is _my voice_ \--and now I have no recourse.

I can't describe the feeling of anger and powerlessness this has given me.
Even though it's just one video and the revenue is in the single digits. Some
_asshole_ has claimed my shit as their own, and when I asked for help, the
900-pound playground monitor said _I_ was in the wrong and now refuses to talk
to me.

So I'm concerned about Google exercising similar unchecked power over search
results.

Now, I've never had anything like this happen with my website, and I don't
know that it's fair to extrapolate my experience with YouTube to Google
Search. But there it is: I don't trust Google to evaluate copyright
infringement correctly.

[1] The video in question is here:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zHt3zlq_Po>

This is what Google says about copyright for that video:
[http://jamesshore.com/images/lets-play-tdd/kickstarter-
updat...](http://jamesshore.com/images/lets-play-tdd/kickstarter-update12.png)

~~~
lotu
> When this happens, I have to dispute the claim. In one case [1], the
> rightsholder confirmed ownership--even though the video is me programming
> and the only audio is my voice--and now I have no recourse.

You do have a recourse, a DMCA take down notice requires that the requester
swear under penalty of perjury that their statements are true. While suing
them would be effective and probably unreasonably expensive, a quicker and
cheaper solution is to send a letter to the legal department of said company
explaining the situation. Do not threaten to sue them in the letter, as that
is illegal, instead clearly explain what they did wrong (issued an invalid
take down notice) and how to fix it. Lawyers don't like getting sued and they
will work to fix this issue on the off chance you decide to sue them.

If this was very important to you really could sue them, probably for way less
money than you think, as this video does make money but also, the take down
notice has damaged your brand and wasted your time all things that are
valuable and you can demand compensation for.

~~~
jdlshore
Thanks for the suggestions. I did send them an email doing just that,
actually. I got no response. I could escalate, but it's not clear to me that
the time invested would be worth it. (Actually, I'm pretty sure that it
_wouldn't_ be worth it. My opportunity costs are high.)

You mentioned the DMCA, but I'm not so sure YouTube is operating under the
DMCA in this matter. My video wasn't taken down, it was just "claimed" under
YouTube's own rules.

One thing's for certain, I won't be starting anything new on YouTube. I've
moved to private content hosting for my new Javascript series. I pay for it,
and I like it that way.

~~~
pasbesoin
Perjury is a felony. It is also grounds for disbarment.

Where's the/a/any prosecutor?

Where's the ABA?

Fail.

P.S. Now, Google, I and a lot of other people will see you as taking sides.

As others have snarkily commented, elsewhere, how soon will you be deranking
YouTube?

Fail. Time for us to move on.

