So, last night, I decided that I'm not going to be uploading any more to Youtube.
The decision has come after a long run of issues with the site, including, but not limited to, some accounts being closed without any reason being given -- I wasn't using them to spam, or anything like that. Each had genuine content on it and in one case, it was entirely original content as well.
The 'help' service has gone from being pretty good. I needed help when I first signed up and had a back and forth conversation with someone from Youtube, which eventually led to my answer. When I found the accounts closed, I emailed them and got a generic reply which didn't help me and was directed toward their 'help forums', which as far as I can tell seem to be run by users who are just as clueless as you.
These problems arose when Google took over. I can totally understand their reasoning for taking over Youtube, I get that they want to make money from it, so I have no problem with the paid-for content that they have. What annoys me though is that in doing this they have completely forgotten about the people that make Youtube what it is.
My latest problem, it could be argued, isn't actually Youtube's fault. It's WMG's -- I uploaded a video with a WMG track and it was found to be copyrighted. Fine. What's not fine is Youtube's complete lack of help with regards to the situation.
"Dear MartinKSmith,
Your video, Iron Man, may have content that is owned or licensed by WMG.
No action is required on your part; however, if you are interested in learning how this affects your video, please visit the Content ID Matches section of your account for more information.
Sincerely,
- The YouTube Team"
"No action is required on your part."
I went on to my account and was able to watch the video, music an' all. It had some ads on it and an iTunes link to buy the song. Awesome. I'm all for that, allowing users to use the songs they want to use, while the labels still getting some money for it. Fine, I thought. I then sent the link to someone.
But. Upon sending the link, I got a reply, "This video has been blocked due to a copyright claim by WMG".
What? I then went onto my account again, I can still watch the video, sound and everything. I checked the copyright info thing.
Your video, IRON MAN , may include content that is owned or licensed by these content owners:
- Content owner: WMG Type: Audio content
As a result, your video has been blocked worldwide.
What should I do?
No action is required on your part. Your video is still available worldwide.
Your video has been blocked worldwide. Your video is still available worldwide. -- Thanks for that, Youtube. Really clear.
I've complained in the past about people ranting about every little change on Youtube and claiming that they're going to go off to Dailymotion instead. They are usually empty threats about something that's really not that bad. A little design change. Not a big deal.
The recent design changes really make no sense, but in general, I was fine with them. However, having had a Dailymotion account for a while now, I've decided to take my videos there instead. I'm not going to go deleting my youtube videos or anything like that and I'll still use it to watch the people I'm subscribed to, but I, personally, won't be uploading anything new.
Dailymotion offers the ability to upload videos up to 20 minutes long (longer if you sign up to their motion-maker program, which is sort of like the partner program on Youtube, but you don't have to jump through so many hoops - you just need to upload original content). You can select your own screen shot from anywhere in the video, which might not seem like a big deal, but still, pretty cool if you're trying to grab peoples attention.
So yeah. Slight-rant over. Dailymotion, not Youtube. The end.
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