Over-the-Top DCI YOUTUBE Copyright Slap-Down

[BOSMarcher]

Two things:

1) I do not believe DCI is in any danger of getting sued because an individual at their show posted a recording on Youtube. The person that made the video could possibly be in trouble, but it really is not something DCI has to do for legal purposes of protecting themselves. The entire reason they do this is to protect DVD sales. Now, when it comes to full-length shows, that is their decision and one I can understand.

2) As for the fear of it keeping people out of the stadiums because they can just watch it online, I do not think that holds a lot of weight. I use online videos to get excited about the season. My wife is the opposit; she does not want to see anything because she wants to be surprised. Most people fall in these two categories, which leaves the remaining people to be new people who stumble upon it and get interested. I cannot see any reason why online videos would stop someone from coming that already knows about the activity.

...which leaves us with the sole reason DCI I would do this is to protect DVD sales. Again, I am not saying that it is not illegal, but I do not believe DCI would ever be responsible for an individual who is not affiliated with their organization for putting up a copyrighted video. I believe it is those companies that own the material's responsibility... but truth be told, I do not think they care enough (ok, maybe the DVD company cares).

[George Dixon]

taking videos off youtube to protect video sales is as smart as trying to sell a drowning man water

awareness is everything in this activity... grow the activity and dvd sales will follow

[DrumcorpsmademeaTuba]

I just wanted to pop in to say this at random since nobody mentioned it. It doesn't have to be the official DCI youtube page. ANY page posing as an owner of a copyrighted product can flag your video, and Youtube will almost ALWAYS take it down without any questions asked because it's the safest business model. I doubt this was what actually happened with this video, but it's an important thing to remember.

[JimF-LowBari]

No. And perhaps those contracts (2004, 2005) had not caught up yet with technology?

Was thinking that too..... And possibly the Internet is the first new method of sharing music since we entered the "sue me/sue you" phase :thumbdown:/> of human existence....

s/ guy who probably broke copyright law by taking his Radio Shack POS tape recorder to a few shows..... And I AIN'T saying if I still have the recordings....

Edited July 2, 2013 by JimF-LowBari

[superOOk]

Those bands, in almost every case, are also the copyright holders of their own material. I'd agree that DCI is missing the boat when it comes to allowing social media to be a driving engine for their product, but it's a situation of needing to make sure that every i and t is dotted and crossed before they can afford to be benignly negligent when it comes to unauthorized postings of shows that they had to get rights clearance for in the first place. When they can't even guarantee mechanical rights for material that IS legally presented live, we should take that as a clue as to how many hurdles have to be cleared.

Personally, I'd recommend that DCI turn the rights clearance issue and financial element of the process back to the individual corps. Right now, you have a few corps whose rights expenses are disproportionately high (either because they chose an expensive piece or because they're using 7 pieces of music that need to be cleared). Let the corps pay for that aspect of their program and negotiate their own deals to include social media clearance.

This would be a step in the right direction.

[dannyboy]

Have no idea so I'm asking. Did those contracts specify anything about content being shown on the Internet?

Also, in the past there were instances of corps getting rights to arrange and perform music, but failing to get "mechanical" rights which relates to use in video/broadcast (motion picture production). This is why some corps may have material missing from videos.

Update: two other videos were removed: Madison Scouts playing "You'll Never Walk Alone" at their preview at a Brat Festival and their parade tune, I think, in Cedarburg (?) parade.

It would shock me, but perhaps somebody at Scouts is taking exception to these clips. Hard to imagine that.

[combia1]

Sooner or later DCI is going to have to reconcile the reality of the social media explosion, in the early days of social media the concert promoters, performers etc tried to control it, but now they have embraced it as they found out they got more exposure which resulted in more revenues to the point they are using social media to launch new songs, events etc.....in a effort to use it to their advantage.

The explosion of social media use as it relates to marketing and copyright law are two different issues. BOA, WGI, and DCI all have to spend a considerable amount of time and energy making sure all of their legal ducks are in a row. All it takes is one lawsuit to bring everything to a halt. BOA has been through it.

[bill]

Has any composer or arranger ever threatened to sue DCI because a video of their work showed up on Youtube?

The answer is "yes" to your question in similar performance arenas; there are cases (as example) of high school bands being sued almost into extinction because YouTube snippets (parents may have made) are out there without proper approval. There ARE larger legal issues here; as example dealing with such organizations as ASCAP. This is not DCI, DCA, or the fault of the guy "livin' down by the river". It's a litigation nuts world, and as trivial as something may appear in any station of life or occurrence, #### DOES really happen.

[combia1]

DCI trying to base their business model off of protecting and selling CDs and DVDs (and streaming videos) is like the record companies trying to base their business model off of selling records. It's been 10 years since that model failed.

Those who are managing DCI (as well as the drum corps themselves) have a fatal lack of management / marketing knowledge, and it is KILLING the sport.

Drum Corps should be DRAWING PEOPLE IN to the sport by sharing as much as they can via social media, youtube, etc...instead they are SHUTTING PEOPLE OUT by making it an exclusive "niche" club that you can only attend if you pay. I know many people (on other threads) have talked about the sport dying and the crowds dwindling because of all kinds of factors, but THIS IS THE #1 FACTOR WHY DCI IS SLOWING DYING.

Ask yourself: how do all of the famous bands make money these days? After all...the record companies already went through Napster and had their business model destroyed. They had to rebuild. So they figured out how to survive. The Answer? Promote through social media, and then fill seats at local events. Send band on 150 city road tour and make their money. You can't bootleg being at a live performance and being there personally.

So sad.

DCI is just following established US copyright law. Marketing wants/desires have to take a back seat to that.

The big problem with your analogy of bands using social media to promote themselves is they are the originators (composers and performers of the original works being promoted.) Bands, colorguards, drumlines, and drum corps are performing derivative works. In order for you analogy to work, then all drum corps would need to perform 100% unique music, composed specifically for them, not arranged.

[combia1]

So many amateur lawyers on here when this issue comes up. I’m not a lawyer but I asked an Entertainment Attorney about this several years ago and he said DCI has NO responsibility for anything other than the standard disclaimer on tickets that the show should not be filmed, rebroadcast, blah, blah After that, the person who posts on YouTube is the criminal.

But any good entertainment lawyer will also go for the deepest pockets. In this case, that would be DCI, not grandma in the stands who made a bootleg video.