Takedown Threat

[Idec Sdawkminn]

Hello fellow YouTubers,

I just had someone threaten to take down 6 of my videos unless I do something they asked. Obviously I didn't infringe on their copyright, so I'm wondering what they could actually do and if they would be able to achieve this. And if they somehow did, is there any recourse I would have other than filing counter notifications? It would suck to have to sue them.

EDIT: In the interest of being clearer, a new viewer of my channel requested I do some videos on topics he chose, and when I said I'd add them to my list, he threatened to have 6 of my videos removed if I didn't do them that week.

 

[KiddieToysReview]

They can file dmca takedown notices by reporting the video and clicking 'infringes my rights'.
You would issue a counter, and send a long email to Yt legal explaining your position.
They would receive a notification and copy of your dispute email, and then they'll reply to Yt legal stating their case. They can also contact you directly for negotiation if they wish.
The email from Yt legal will state that a counter-notification is filed (by you), and they need to obtain legal representation and a court case set, in your jurisdiction to fight the claims. That's the official line.
In the practical case, Yt legal will review your response and their response, and either put the videos back up, or keep them down. They may/may not (I would err on the "not") notify you and the other party any reasons, etc. If the videos are put up and the other party is not happy, they would engage an attorney and proceed to litigation. If the other party is ok with it, nothing will happen.
The thing to be careful of, is you might have 6 strikes. Not sure exactly how it works, but I believe 3 unique strikes and your account is out.
In some cases, an agreement to share revenue form the infringing videos may be reached.
You may be able to make a case for 'fair use', but this would need to be made in front of a judge with an expensive lawyer by your side, or in a meeting between your and their attorney, once again at a hefty price tag.

 

[Idec Sdawkminn]

They can file dmca takedown notices by reporting the video and clicking 'infringes my rights'.
You would issue a counter, and send a long email to Yt legal explaining your position.
They would receive a notification and copy of your dispute email, and then they'll reply to Yt legal stating their case. They can also contact you directly for negotiation if they wish.
The email from Yt legal will state that a counter-notification is filed (by you), and they need to obtain legal representation and a court case set, in your jurisdiction to fight the claims. That's the official line.
In the practical case, Yt legal will review your response and their response, and either put the videos back up, or keep them down. They may/may not (I would err on the "not") notify you and the other party any reasons, etc. If the videos are put up and the other party is not happy, they would engage an attorney and proceed to litigation. If the other party is ok with it, nothing will happen.
The thing to be careful of, is you might have 6 strikes. Not sure exactly how it works, but I believe 3 unique strikes and your account is out.
In some cases, an agreement to share revenue form the infringing videos may be reached.
You may be able to make a case for 'fair use', but this would need to be made in front of a judge with an expensive lawyer by your side, or in a meeting between your and their attorney, once again at a hefty price tag.

The thing is, none of the content belongs to them. They are just a viewer who threatened to take some of my videos down if I don't upload a certain video on a certain day.

 

[KiddieToysReview]

They are just a viewer who threatened to take some of my videos down if I don't upload a certain video on a certain day.

That sounds like extortion. What is the video they want you to upload? Is it something promoting them?
You can only report your own videos, you can't report other videos, so if it is not on their channel that they are reporting from, they can't do anything.
Either way, is sounds like it is extortion/blackmail - contact Yt.
It also sounds like a Yt version of that Ransonware attack going on now...

 

[Idec Sdawkminn]

That sounds like extortion. What is the video they want you to upload? Is it something promoting them?
You can only report your own videos, you can't report other videos, so if it is not on their channel that they are reporting from, they can't do anything.
Either way, is sounds like it is extortion/blackmail - contact Yt.
It also sounds like a Yt version of that Ransonware attack going on now...

I don't think it is as planned as that. They requested I do some videos on a certain topic, like many other people do, and I told him that I would add it to my list of requests. He then threatened to take down 6 of my videos if I don't do his requests by Friday. I assumed he would be reporting them for violating the community guidelines or something.

 

[KiddieToysReview]

I don't think it is as planned as that. They requested I do some videos on a certain topic, like many other people do, and I told him that I would add it to my list of requests. He then threatened to take down 6 of my videos if I don't do his requests by Friday. I assumed he would be reporting them for violating the community guidelines or something.

Weird! If not his videos, he can't have them taken down, system won't let him.
Flagging does nothing, look at the recent case of DaddyOf5. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people flagged the videos for one of the most serious things - child abuse, and nothing happened, Yt never took down any videos.

 

[Idec Sdawkminn]

Weird! If not his videos, he can't have them taken down, system won't let him.
Flagging does nothing, look at the recent case of DaddyOf5. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people flagged the videos for one of the most serious things - child abuse, and nothing happened, Yt never took down any videos.

Well, that's good to know. I'm not really certain he is going to try and after talking a little more it seems like it may have been a half-bluff, half-joke. Anyway, thanks!

 

[MostShockingEP]

Well you are using copyrighted material, the only question I have are you monetizing your videos? I have adblock so I don't see any ads. If are not monetizing then you could argue that you are using copyrighted material as fair use policy. If you are monetizing your videos then you are stealing and anyone can report you and they should.

Taking copyrighted material and editing it to look different does not gives you right to earn profit from it.

 

[Idec Sdawkminn]

Well you are using copyrighted material, the only question I have are you monetizing your videos? I have adblock so I don't see any ads. If are not monetizing then you could argue that you are using copyrighted material as fair use policy. If you are monetizing your videos then you are stealing and anyone can report you and they should.

Taking copyrighted material and editing it to look different does not gives you right to earn profit from it.

Thanks for your input, but please make sure you completely understand the topic you are sharing information on when it relates to legal matters. It is important that any information given in this section of the forum is accurate.

If something is Fair Use or you have the correct permission, then you can use it and monetize it. If it's not and you don't have permission to use it, then you can't use it at all, monetized or not. And regardless of if it is legal for someone to use it, no one besides the copyright owner can flag it. Best they can do is alert the copyright owner about it. The report feature on YouTube specifically lists it as "infringes your rights". My video doesn't infringe that person's rights in any way.

By the way, all my videos are monetized.

 

[MostShockingEP]

Thanks for your input, but please make sure you completely understand the topic you are sharing information on when it relates to legal matters. It is important that any information given in this section of the forum is accurate.

If something is Fair Use or you have the correct permission, then you can use it and monetize it. If it's not and you don't have permission to use it, then you can't use it at all, monetized or not. And regardless of if it is legal for someone to use it, no one besides the copyright owner can flag it. Best they can do is alert the copyright owner about it. The report feature on YouTube specifically lists it as "infringes your rights". My video doesn't infringe that person's rights in any way.

By the way, all my videos are monetized.

First of all don't mix two different topic. Using third party content with permission and using third party content for fair use.

Now topic I was talking about is "fair use". Here what YouTube has to say about it:

"Commercial uses are less likely to be considered "fair use"."

You are monetizing your videos so it is a commercial use. No matter if you are using original clip or you modify/edit it for this you need written permission from original creator with all the terms and conditions that will be legally binding for two parties that will sign these contract. If you do not have that, you are illegally earning profit by stealing someone else work.

YouTube can't check everything single video/channel, they can't even stop people who upload full movies, that they download from internet, upload them to YouTube and then monetize them, their accounts are banned after some time but they get 500k views on their videos and it still takes ages for YouTube to stop them. So the fact that you are monetizing your videos does not mean it is legal for you to do so. If you read my previous post one more time, you will see that everything I said is 100% true, whether it applied to you I do know and its not my job to find out and I don't really care. I just wanted to make sure that user who read this will not make mistake of editing someone else work and uploading it as their own.

NOW where in my post did you see my say that anyone can flag your video??? I said anyone can report it, which means notify original creator/studio. It is very easy to find contact information where you can do it. Then original content creator will choice what he will do next.

This is not my main account, my main account is in different language so it is not related to this forum, but even this one is from 2006, so I was around when YouTube was implementing new rules about copyright content and majority of my old videos in these and other accounts were affected. YouTube was much different 11 years ago and I was around when all the changes happened.