June 13, 2007

Anaehim Ballet Gets Hit with Unwaranted YouTube Take Down Order

Evan Rosenberg, producer of the innovative video podcasts for the Anaheim Ballet, gave me permission to post this email he sent me yesterday:

Hey Doug,

Thought you might find this interesting...

Our video, "Dancer Profile: Sachi Arai" has been disabled by YouTube due to a claim of copyright Infringement.

The video had over 150,000 views.

The claim was filed by an individual who as far as I can tell by a google search, is a musician. Though YouTube hasn't specified what copyright we are being accused of infringing on, I would speculate it is music.

The claim is amusing as the music for the video is made up of digital instruments and royalty free loops using the computer program, Apple Soundtrack Pro.

YouTube offers a means to dispute the claim (after the video has already been disabled mind you) which obviously, we are taking full advantage of, and I am confident we will be vindicated.

As online video becomes a more and more popular medium for ballet/dance companies (we've had over 2.5 million views on YouTube alone), problems/annoyances such as this will become more common.

I'll let you know how this turns out.

Peace,
Evan

Evan Rosenberg

My thoughts: I agree with Evan. There are many issues and challenges that have to be addressed by dancers and dance companies - both those that concern their rights and intellectual property interests, and the rights of other artists with whom they work. The claim that Evan discusses in his email appears unfounded and a definite hindrance for him and the Anaheim Ballet.

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