I’ve really had it with YouTube allowing bogus copyright claims on music producer’s content. For one thing, Apple Loops are royalty free and can be used anywhere. Nobody can claim copyright on them. But it keeps happening – to me and to other music producers. The latest instance was when I recently uploaded a book trailer video for Déjà vu at the Blue Diamond Saloon.
I used my own vocals and piano and drum programming but backed it with some piano Apple Loops. I got a copyright claim notice from somebody named Hexacorp. I couldn’t find anything about them on YouTube itself, so I searched the internet. From what I can tell, they seem to do this a lot – claim copyright on free Apple loops. Totally unethical. And should be illegal. What have they done? Uploaded every free Apple loop and claimed copyright? I can’t imagine but I don’t know how else this is happening.
What’s even more ridiculous is because they now have to identify which section is the copyrighted material, the part they identified was looped throughout so why just single that section? It’s beyond belief what YouTube allows, and I’m so tired of filing these disputes to get the copyright claim lifted, when it’s all bogus!
It’s not like I’m trying to build a channel and monetize it. I just need a place to host my videos so I can share them with others. So what’s my recourse? I could just not use loops or I can edit them to change them up in hopes that my music won’t receive a copyright claim. But better yet, I’m thinking of upgrading my WordPress account so that I can use the video hosting feature. Yes, it’ll cost me a few extra bucks a month, but I’d rather retain control over my content – not allow some crook to claim it in hopes of making money off of me.
In the meantime, I wait to get a response from the so-called “owners” of the copyright claim. They have 30 days to respond. I’m here to fight it out, if necessary, before I delete my YouTube account and host my own videos. Another lesson in regaining control over your content – don’t trust social media sites where you have no real ownership.
