The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I uploaded this London recording of the new Colonial March. Recorded at the Edison studios in London in 1912 and released on Blue Amberol in 1914. I was notified immediately that someone thinks they may own the copyright!

Note the tricky way the acknowledgement, (confirmation that rights are owned by someone else) is just above the words "I believe this copyright claim is not vaid" (which I must click on to dispute the claim).

One wrong click and I've acknowledged their claim! Needless to say dispute in process.

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psLZB0KfcYs[/youtubehd]

Copyright dispute aside, that is about the finest playing and nicest sounding Amberola 1B I have ever heard. The sound it produces is as natural and smooth as one could ever expect from a cylinder phonograph. I would love to find an Amberola 1B to go with my Amberola 1A. I am assuming that the cylinder has a couple of weakened grooves that slightly distort sound shortly after 2 minutes into the video but a superb performance otherwise. It would be a shame to remove the video due to a copyright dispute. Goodness knows many of us have assumed that early (19-teens and before) recordings posted on YouTube were safe from this sort of warning. Best of luck and keep us posted. - Doug

Thanks very much Doug.

Regarding the slight distortion at about two min into the recording, the cylinder seems to be in very good condition, the stylus is fine and the diaphragm is original, new gaskets and tuning by Steve Medved. I'm not sure if the cylinder has a couple weakened grooves or was just a bit overly stridently recorded. If I play these clean directly recorded cylinders using the model L,it's really beyond it's limits, VERY LOUD but some noticeable distortion and the low end is lost.

I agree with you on the 1As too. I've got multiple 1As and they do sound good but the 1B in comparison runs close to silently and is less cumbersome to operate.

On the copyright issue, they almost always back off if you contest the claim. I uploaded about 30 similar videos last summer, got about 40 claims, (multiple competing claims) on 20+ of the videos. Most withdrew thier claims in the first round after I contested but a few of the contested claims went against me, without explanation being provided. I went through an appeals process and got them all removed after a couple months but it is really a pain!

Like you, I've had several copyright claims that I've disputed and that were usually immediately dismissed. Currently my only oustanding claim is on a Victor recording of Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence doing a scene from Shadow Play. I have disputed this claim repeatedly and unsuccessfully. The video is still available but there is a link to purchase the audio from various places. I can live with that...

52089, which reason did you successfully use to appease the YouTube copyright vigilantes?

Retrograde wrote:52089, which reason did you successfully use to appease the YouTube copyright vigilantes?

The contested musical selections were from 19th century opera, so I indicated that since the pieces were first performed and published in (say) 1851, they were in the public domain everywhere in the world.

FYI, my Youtube name is "thesegoto80" if you wish to check out my posts.

True: YouTube is notorious for this sort of thing: note that you have to sign a statement declaring that you are acting in 'good faith' - the corporate pirates are under no such obligation.

Bill

What are the implications of acknowledging a copyright claim? I've acknowledged a couple of claims on my videos and nothing seemingly has happened apart from the fact that I can't monetise them, which I hadn't intended doing anyway as it's probably pointless as the potential audience is only a couple of hundred views at most.

Am I missing something?

It seems that acknowledging the claim often leads to advertising showing up when people play your video, so I expect that is the game. Make all kinds of wild cliams about owing a copyright and if people don't contest it, you can make money off of somebody else's video.

Clay

FloridaClay wrote:It seems that acknowledging the claim often leads to advertising showing up when people play your video, so I expect that is the game. Make all kinds of wild cliams about owing a copyright and if people don't contest it, you can make money off of somebody else's video.

Clay

Yes, on the one hand seeing adverts can be seen as the cost of using something like you tube, I don't want to be seen as getting in on the profit motive thing.