IMPORTANT! An Indian TV channel claiming ownership over one of my tracks! What to do?

Envato Authors AudioJungle
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Hi All,

I would appreciate your help here. It’s IMPORTANT, URGENT and it can happen to any of us.
The situation is:

Some costumers have contacted me saying that after they purchased one of my tracks they tried to upload a video they made (using the track) on INSTAGRAM and the video was blocked. I also did a test myself and it happened to me as well. I could not upload to Instagram my own music! The message says:

“Your video was blocked because it may contain content owned by MediaoneTV”

And there is no option on Instagram to do anything like contact someone or appeal/dispute…nothing.

Then, after some research, I found out that MediaOneTV is a TV channel in India. I contacted a senior person in there. He said that maybe someone made a mistake and uploaded one of their videos online (using my track which I can only ASSUME they purchased legally!) and registered the video AND MUSIC with content ID.

Now, it looks like they OWN the track. So every new costumer of mine who legally purchase the same track will be blocked! Huge problem!!

I have been trying to make them finding that video and UN-register the music from Content ID. This, in my view, would solve the problem immediately. However, the person from the channel wrote this on his last email.

Hello Mr.
i already said that you may dispute the claim then only we can remove the copyright claim. It is usual process, don’t you understand?

Can anyone PLEASE tell me what to do? Where to go? Who to talk to? Contact AJ support? Youtube? Instagram? How do I “dispute the claim”. Have no idea how and even what it exactly mean.

The thing is I don’t even know what video is using the track? if it is on YT or IG? How can I find it?

PS: I haven’t registered this track with content ID. Which honestly, I deeply regret it now.

One person complained about being blocked and just gave me a 1-star review! This is hurting the business image. I replied to him/her but now I can’t reach him/her via Envato because their profile does not have an email address.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP! This can happen to anyone here, so maybe this thread can help others too.

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I’m really interested to see what happens here. Wouldn’t know how to deal with this, apart from sending thousands of emails to them. Can you see any Content ID partner names in the claims? like Adrev, Audiam or something?

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It’s funny that you mentioned this. I am having the EXACT same issue right now as well. YouTube are bumbling idiots when it comes to ContentID fraud. You can try looking up the company name and send them a takedown notice… maybe? The company I’m dealing with is also Indian and my overtures don’t seem to be getting me anywhere.

Interested to hear if you get any resolution, and I’ll do the same.

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Hi guys, thanks for the comments. No, as I said, I know nothing about which CONTENT ID they used. I don’t know even the video using my track. The only think I know is that instagram blocks any video using this track. I sent the person from the TV channel another email today. I will wait for his reply. I will then contact APRA (Australian PRO) and will talk to a lawyer. We all have to be better informed and prepared for this kind of situations as upsetting and frustrating as they are.

I also just sent Envato a support ticket explaining the situation. I hope they help me on this too.

Trust me, I would much rather be working on my new track than “spending” my time on this. But I hope this makes us (RF music composers) better informed and ready to fight for our rights when necessary.

I will share everything here.

@bdProductions do you have your track registered with content ID? Do you know the link of their video using your track?

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The good news is that there’s probably nothing Envato can do to help you in this situation, 'cause you own 100% of the rights for your track. The even better news is that you can sue that tv channel for stealing your music, and get $$,$$$. You’ll always win in court, because you have the original project in your DAW!

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So sorry to hear that! Unfortunately this happens when you don’t protect your assets. I have been saying this for years: It’s dangerously insane not to register your published music (sorry, that doesn’t help)

It’s a real mess to sort, fortunately, you are not the first to have that experience, and thought it takes some time and effort, previously affected authors have managed to sort it out.

What you can do:

  • Contact Envato support, telling them that their customers are being affected by this. They probably won’t do a thing, but you should insist that they either give the buyer’s contact, or block this buyer. Push them, as they won’t want to do anything.

  • Upload a video of your own with the music, so that you get a claim and see who the third-party is.

  • Once you have the third party name, contact them, and explain your case. If they’re not willing to solve your issue, threaten to sue them, as they have absolutely no right to manage your asset in someone else’s name.

  • When you have a claim on Youtube, dispute it (there’s an option/link for that in the claim) and insist on the abusive nature of the claim, since the people who registered your own music, are usurpers and thieves.

  • Explain to that rude dimwit who sent you the last mail, that you are not trying to remove a claim, but that you want them to stop making those claims by unregistering the copyrighted asset they stole from you. Remind them of the seriousness of the situation, and threaten to sue. Stupidity does not excuse everything!

  • If the above points fail, then do get a lawyer, though hopefully, you won’t have to go that far.

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But if the Indian tv channel still has the copyright, YouTube will probably take their side. Might even suspend your YT channel, if you do so. Be careful about that!

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They do not own the copyright, they merely abusively registered material that is not theirs. @WavebeatsMusic still is the author of the track and should not have any difficulties to prove it. Youtube doesn’t like abusive claimers.

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It’s always best to consult a lawyer first, or this might backfire. :thinking:

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Guys, thank you SO MUCH for the support. It feels really good to be part of this community and to know that we are not alone…that together we can help each other.

Ok…I sent the guy another email. Very professionally written and trying to make sure we can resolve it amicably. I will wait for more info to share it with you here. As I said, I hope this can help others. @PurpleFog thank you so much for your detailed “plan of attack”. When you say “It’s dangerously insane not to register your published music” do you mean register with Content ID or register with our P.R.O? or both?

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Tell them that you have the DAW file and the electronic signature of the track.
If that doesn’t work, tell them that you are gonna sue them. And do it eventually.

The law is on your side.

Good Luck

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Good luck with all this.

I suposse you have contact Instagram support.
I found a web in internet to how to do it. I hope this can help.

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Though, of course it’s better to register with a PRO, here it won’t help.

The main dangers for us Audiojungle authors are having our music used without a license, and worse, having our work claimed by someone else. For both issues, ContentID is the only tool that can help. It’s the first essential protection we have.

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I know…and I honestly regret not having started here on AJ registering every single track. I guess I am learning the hard way now. I opened a thread about it last week (what a coincidence, hum?) I guess it is life telling me to start protecting more my assets.

what CONTENT ID partner are you using? Adrev? Identifyy? Audiam?

I registered 1 track with identityy last week. so I am in kind of “trial” with this company. Which one would you recommend? since adrev is not taking RF composers anymore. I tried last week too but they rejected me.

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I’m with AdRev, got in before they changed their policy. I don’t know about the other players, but I haven’t heard anything terrible about them. If Identifyy is legit and let you in (which nowadays is the main pro argument, as so many third-parties close their doors on us), I would protect all my assets asap. Though of course it’s more prudent to test the water first.

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ok I have news…It’s WAR now!

I will copy and paste the last 3 emails we exchanged in the last couple of hours, let me know what you guys think, ok?

MY EMAIL:

Hi Shakkir,

I really appreciate your reply and step-by-step instructions. It does show that you also want to solve the issue. And for that, I thank you.
However, I can see that there is a clear misunderstanding here.
The problem is not clearing my ’test video’ so it can be unblocked by Instagram/Facebook or Youtube. Not at all.
The problem is that MediaoneTV might have uploaded to YT, FB or IG one video (or videos) using my music track and then registered with content ID claiming ownership of that video (including both video and music). As you know, I only sell music licenses on Audiojungle.net (The only possible place where someone from MediaoneTV might have purchased my track). I never sell the intellectual property (the music itself). I, the composer, always retain 100% of the copyright of my work.
Do you see? It’s not me who needs to dispute a claim (as this would only help my own video) but it’s MediaoneTV that needs to unregister the track from content ID. This is the only way to resolve the issue for all my other costumers using the same track in their own videos. I would never expect each one of my costumers to have to go through a dispute with mediaoneTV to clear their videos. It’s logistically unreasonable.
I hope I made it clearer now. So, please you need to contact the market department and locate who is responsible for registering your videos with Content ID.
I am in contact with many composers who had to go through similar situations and I have a much clearer understanding of the matter now.
Thank you my friend…I have more confidence now (after I explained the issue again) that we, together can resolve this issue soon.

HIS REPLY:

sorry its not possible …we have thousands of videos and as TV channel we don’t have time to check such things. if you want you can do it what i said before.its upto you. no need of further mails in this regard

MY LAST EMAIL TO HIM JUST SENT:

Mr. Jameel,
I tried my best to be professional and friendly. I explained the situation several times hoping for an amicably solution.
You are representing MediaoneTV and you just said, and I quote: "sorry its not possible …we have thousands of videos and as TV channel we don’t have time to check such things”.
Let me remind you that I was never asking you for a favour. You should have tried harder to fix a problem your company created.
Be aware: MediaoneTV broke intellectual property laws and stole copyrights of my digital asset. That is illegal! I can easily prove that.
You will certainly hear from me and my lawyers again.

SUGGESTIONS??

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Suggestion: stop wasting your time looking for unqualified advice on an internet forum, and go speak to an actual lawyer.

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Lazy-a*s morons! The nerves of these guys. Make screenprints of your email exchanges.

Well, your best bet now is to get a claim and contact third party claimant. They should sort it out for you. If nothing there, open a dispute with Youtube. Then if still nothing, lawyer up.

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thanks mate…I certainly will look for a lawyer. but I do want to share the experience here in case it helps others…

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Getting legal advice may come at a price… If you can afford to lose that legal fee, then sure go ahead. Most AJ authors are dirt poor however, which is why it’s worth exploring the options that are directly available to us. Usually those matters are resolvable without having to hire a lawyer.

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