Hello Purple Fog,
I appreciate your previous balanced comments. However, even in light of my frustration, I feel using semantics here to (in my opinion) to diminish my argument is not fair.
We have a licence from Envato. The agent doesn’t accept it. So unless we admit wrongdoing (whichever way you want to word it) this means:
1 - our video will be removed from the Youtube platform against our consent
2 - we will forfeit the earnings to the author
3 - we will get a strike against our Youtube channel
AND
4 - we cannot continue to monetize our channel until we go to Copyright school
Answers to your questions below…
did you use the music in more than one video
ANS: Yes. And (although you did not ask) we have licences for both projects
Is the name of the author in the claim the same as the author you bought the music from?
ANS: No, and it rarely is the same in our experience – not just from Elite Alliance, but all claims we have had. The name of the track is also even sometimes different, but to a lesser frequency.
Have you contacted the author?
ANS: No, we have not found them. But yes, we did try to. This is part of the cost in time and hassle I am speaking of. Only the agency and author name is given in the Youtube claim. No contact details are ever provided. For example if the Author has a common name, uses a pseudonym, doesn’t have a social presence to speak of, or their own website with a contact etc. it is very hard.
Did you use the Youtube dispute system or did you use the Elite Alliance form (if there is one)?
ANS: We used the Youtube system. However, I also complained to Elite Alliance via a basic form on Elite Alliance’s website, at the time of declining our disputing their claim (their basically saying: ‘No we don’t accept you have a licence.’ in the first instance).
I contacted them directly after they declined the first time and because we just went through this with them a week earlier for the same track, on the other project which we also had a licence for.
Since they have rejected our dispute and there is no system to re-dispute on Youtube again, meaning our video gets taken down, we lose the money, we get a Strike against our channel and LOSE ALL MONETIZATION ON OUR CHANNEL until we go to Copyright School.)
In addition to spending time writing here I will now again have to contact the agent and Envato and Youtube… Or I can just roll over and admit wrong doing (however you think best to term the situation) and wait for it to happen again on our next video… and the next.
What makes you think this would be a solution? Why wouldn’t you receive claims on “free music”? There is nothing preventing this type of music from being registered. Whether it be by legitimate authors, or fraudsters who prey on unregistered music.
ANS: Again semantics. No, there is no guarantee about anything except ‘death and [possibly] taxes’. However there are at least a few known artists who create free music and have a long history for doing so, which makes it a safer option. Youtube also provides free music. Neither option is ideal or as good as licensing through a platform like Envato if we ignore the problem here of copyright disputes, but they are options.
The other option of course is no music.
To summerise for others new to the thread/asking the same questions:
- We have a licence for the track.
- Effectively they are saying they don’t accept the licence. So in my world (when I have a licence) this is wrong – whether anyone wants to call it a “false claim” or not.
- We have spent 19 days dealing with this - disputing and appealing via the formal method.
- Our earnings for the video is being held in escrow.
- Now that the agency/author have denied the licence we will lose the money and the video will be removed by Youtube.
- There is no method of disputing an appeal once it is denied, which it has been
- Unless we are willing to accept their refusal to accept we have a licence to use the track and remove our dispute/appeal, we not be able to continue monetizing our channel until we go to Youtube Copyright School.
- I am complaining here so others will see, since at least the stage 1 dispute happens repeatedly and we are fed up
- Elite Alliance seems to be the most frequent, most aggressive decliner or licences. However we have had disputed licenses from various other agencies.
We are visual and literary artists ourselves, in addition to being creators on Youtube! Because we are having this problem, that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate artists have problems defending their work. However we have our own business as video content creators to consider.
Clearly we respect artists, or we wouldn’t have been be here complaining in regard to getting claims facing disputes and lose of monetization, while having a paid membership (terms which I assume the artist involved agreed to, unless maybe whoever put their track on Envato did so unlawfully??).
Whatever anyone wants to call it – this s an unfair, aggravating, time consuming and repeated hassle which losing us earnings.