Vimeo Following YouTube?

[NWSanta]

I saw that too. I'll try the fair use thing too. So tired of having to look for a video host all the time. Vimeo seems easy enough.

[JeffF]

Had them deny my fair use claim a little while ago.

[NWSanta]

That sucks. I could see it if we were trying to make money at it but, we aren't we are just sharing our Christmas displays and having fun doing so. Just so sad really.

[PhilMassey]

I think the bots are just getting better at spotting copyrighted music. The music and movie industry would rather criminalise their customers than catch the real pirates.

[JeffF]

This was my reply to the denial letter Vimeo sent...

 

"Your reason isn't good enough.  You basically just said "no soup for you"???  How is artistically interpreting a song with Christmas lights not "fair use"?  There is no money being charged, no donations being requested, this isn't a commercial location using lights to advertise their business, there is no benefit to anyone other than a smile.  So again... how is this not "fair use"?

Please reconsider otherwise I will not be renewing my yearly subscription with Vimeo.
 

Thank you,
Jeff"

[PhilMassey]

Unfortunately, you are probably talking to an automated system. Good luck.

[Hank Hancock]

Problem solved, at least for me. I spent time today on my personal web site to implement video streaming. I got it working, moved my videos over to my web site, then sent Vimeo my "kiss off" e-mail.   
 

It's truly sad how the music/film industry has badgered video and image hosting services to the point they won't host anything that is "fair use" or "appropriation art" respectively. 

Edited December 12, 2014 by Hank Hancock

[Hank Hancock]

I wrote to Vimeo and asked two basic questions:

1. Why is a personal video of Christmas lights sequenced to music, with a disclaimer that states "I do not own the music used in this video and am using it under 'fair use' copyright law" not considered "fair use" when it is interpretive and recontextualizing (transformative)?
2. In the extremely unlikely event that the copyright owner objects to the use of the music, who gets sued... Vimeo or me?

This was their response:
 

 

Hi Hank,
 

You asked whether there was some notice you could give about your fair use in order to place your video online. You also asked who would be potentially liable for copyright infringement.
 

Fair use is a complicated area of the law, and a fair use analysis takes several factors into account. Further, fair use is generally reserved for certain identified appropriate purposes.

Your Copyright Match appeal was denied because our moderators determined that you did not provide a sufficient basis for claiming “fair use” of the identified material.

While nonprofit purposes are generally favored over commercial uses, not all nonprofit uses are “fair.” For example, there are several purposes especially appropriate for fair use, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.

Here, merely pairing the copyrighted work with video content does not fall within the listed purposes. Further, simply placing a written description under the video does not a fair use make.

In order to use the song in your own video, you must obtain the appropriate license (which usually requires payment) or explicit, written permission from the song’s copyright holder.

You can find a solid selection of freely and affordable licensed songs in our Music Store (https://vimeo.com/musicstore), and on sites like The Music Bed (https://www.themusicbed.com/) and SongFreedom (https://songfreedom.com/).

Regarding your second question, as an online service provider, Vimeo enjoys safe harbor protections under the DMCA so long as it complies with the provisions of the statute – our terms of service reflect strict compliance with the statute.
 

As such, please note that our Terms of Service prohibits the uploading of videos that infringe another person’s copyrights. We will remove materials if we believe they are infringing, or if we receive an appropriate takedown notice from a copyright holder.
 

At the end of the day though, if your video merely reproduces someone else’s art without their permission, we don’t want you to upload it to Vimeo.

As a final note, you indicate your video was uploaded as private. I can also see you are a PLUS user. For Plus and Pro users, our system does not flag videos uploaded as private so long as they remain private. This use case was built in specifically for certain productions seeking approval from clients and copyright holders.

Hope this helps.

 

It seems my mistake was I did not mark the video as "Private" fast enough after uploading it to avoid it being inspected by their copyright detector. While I was trying to set it to "Private" I got a message that I was no longer able to access the video - my first clue it had been deleted. It is possible to mark the video as "Private" while it is uploading to avoid detection altogether. However, I have a paid account. I'm not sure if a video can be made private with a free account. Someone with a free account may be able to answer that question. Still, it seems avoiding the detector in this way still doesn't make the video "fair use." It just avoids being detected.

Edited December 17, 2014 by Hank Hancock

[PhilMassey]

Just tried to post one myself. Got taken down.

 

Account Deleted.............

[JeffF]

At least you received a response.  My inquiry wasn't something they wanted to tackle I guess.  I will not renew my subscription and the only reason I'm not deleting my account is because I have videos from the previous 5 or 6 years there.  If those are taken down then my account will be deleted.

 

Bummer...

 

I wrote to Vimeo and asked two basic questions:

1. Why is a personal video of Christmas lights sequenced to music, with a disclaimer that states "I do not own the music used in this video and am using it under 'fair use' copyright law" not considered "fair use" when it is interpretive and recontextualizing (transformative)?
2. In the extremely unlikely event that the copyright owner objects to the use of the music, who gets sued... Vimeo or me?

This was their response:
 

 

It seems my mistake was I did not mark the video as "Private" fast enough to avoid it being inspected by their copyright detector. While I was trying to set it to "Private" I got a message that I was no longer able to access the video - my first clue it had been deleted. It is possible to mark the video as "Private" while it is uploading. However, I have a paid account. I'm not sure if a video can be made private with a free account. Someone with a free account may be able to answer that question. Still, it seems avoiding the detector in this way still doesn't make the video "fair use." It just avoids being detected.

[Hank Hancock]

@JeffF, I also have several years of Christmas Lights to Music videos that have gone completely untouched by Vimeo although, according to Vimeo's interpretation of copyright law, they would be taken down if detected. I also have a companion video of this year's video uploaded, only I set the privacy while uploading rather than after. It escaped the copyright detector. Vimeo seems to be running the detector against newly uploaded non-private videos only. That said, there is the possibility they will eventually go back through older uploads and inspect. I would advise that you go through your videos and set them all to private. 

 

 

 

At least you received a response.  My inquiry wasn't something they wanted to tackle I guess.  I will not renew my subscription and the only reason I'm not deleting my account is because I have videos from the previous 5 or 6 years there.  If those are taken down then my account will be deleted.

Edited December 17, 2014 by Hank Hancock