GEMA Takes Kim Dotcom's Mega Launch Party Video Down, Despite All Songs Being Cleared

from the gema-again dept

Thu, Jan 24th 2013 2:45pm — Mike Masnick

GEMA and MEGA may have the same letters arranged differently, but you have to imagine that the hardline copyright maximalists at GEMA aren't at all pleased by Kim Dotcom's new Mega outfit, even if it's really not all that different than tons of other online cloud storage platforms. Still, it is a bit odd to see that GEMA had Mega's launch video removed from YouTube. There was music in the video, but as Dotcom notes, it was either his own music, or music by musicians who all gave permission to use it. My guess is that it may have more to do with the ongoing dispute between GEMA and YouTube, which means that any video with GEMA content is blocked in Germany. However, Dotcom filed a dispute, and notes that he plans to have his lawyers discuss the matter with GEMA.

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Filed Under: kim dotcom, music, takedowns, youtube
Companies: gema, mega

25 Comments

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weneedhelp (profile), 24 Jan 2013 @ 2:47pm

Man this came right to mind
The night is black, without a moon.
The air is thick and still.
The vigilantes gather on
The lonely torchlit hill.

Features distorted in the flickering light,
Faces are twisted and grotesque.
Silent and stern in the sweltering night,
The mob moves like demons possessed.
Quiet in conscience, calm in their right,
Confident their ways are best.

The righteous rise
With burning eyes
Of hatred and ill-will.
Madmen fed on fear and lies
To beat and burn and kill.

They say there are strangers who threaten us,
Our immigrants and infidels.
They say there is strangeness to danger us
In our theaters and bookstore shelves,
That those who know what's best for us
Must rise and save us from ourselves.

Quick to judge,
Quick to anger,
Slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice
And fear walk hand in hand.
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rorybaust (profile), 24 Jan 2013 @ 3:02pm

Because no music makes us buy no music, I suppose that's success, can't steal what you don't know , so it appears GEMA's aim is to eliminate piracy by eliminating the source.
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Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), 24 Jan 2013 @ 3:13pm

Yet another savvy move by GEMA in its ongoing effort to alienate the entire world, following closely on the heels of its updated corporate logo.
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Rikuo (profile), 24 Jan 2013 @ 3:16pm

Re:
Okay, the musical note I understand...but the horse/unicorn-thing? The wing?
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That One Guy (profile), 24 Jan 2013 @ 3:30pm

Re: Re:
Perhaps it's because if someone honestly thinks GEMA is a group that's for the rights of musicians, they probably also believe in unicorns/pegasi and other mythological creatures as well?
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Jan 2013 @ 4:07pm

yet another abuse of the DMCA takedown system?

or another youtube fark-up?
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Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), 24 Jan 2013 @ 5:18pm

Re: Re:
The wing probably signifies the "flying fuck" it doesn't give.
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fogbugzd (profile), 24 Jan 2013 @ 5:19pm

Re:
This case might be different. Dotcom and his lawyers might want to make an issue of the perjury involved in filing a bogus DCMA.
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anonymouse, 24 Jan 2013 @ 5:21pm

Re:
I would hope that Kim would take them to court, no backing down, this is something that needs to happen sooner or later and why not Kim doing it for us all. I do understand why he wants to quieten things down on the media front, I think anyone in his situation would want the same, and I am sure his lawyers are advising him to maybe tone it down a bit, but they seem to give him opportunities to sue them almost every other day what with this and the King fiasco.

Maybe it is him that needs to sue , but then again maybe he should leave some of the limelight for someone else for a while until MEga has been convincingly challenged and the challenges refuted.
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Anonymous Monkey (profile), 24 Jan 2013 @ 6:33pm

Yea .. Mega's lawyers are just gonna have a nice ... little... discussion.
o_0

Where's my popcorn?!? >.>
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Jan 2013 @ 6:43pm

Re:
I suspect that whoever's in charge looks at the request and goes "meh, GEMA" and lets it pass. On the plus side, they could be doing this to let social reputation take its course and whup GEMA's sorry posterior.
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Alana (profile), 24 Jan 2013 @ 7:29pm

GEMA is an anagram of MEGA.

Coincidence?!

*dons tinfoil hat*
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The Old Man in The Sea, 24 Jan 2013 @ 7:45pm

GEMA website and ISP
Has anyone looked at the GEMA website and determined if they have infringed on somebodies copyright? If they have, is it worth to get their site taken down for copyright infringement or even for just using something is copyrighted by someone else?

What's good for the goose is good for the gander!
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That One Guy (profile), 24 Jan 2013 @ 8:04pm

Re: GEMA website and ISP
Well if you were going to use their tactics, might as well go all the way and just slam them with fines and fees because they might be infringing on a copyright somewhere, at some point.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Jan 2013 @ 11:28pm

Re:
Do you think that blinkers, unicorn horn and flames may be over-egging the pudding?
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Jan 2013 @ 12:01am

oh shit! dot com's having fun! SHUT HIM DOWN!
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Jan 2013 @ 12:27am

Re: Re:
Legally, Youtube can't do that. Because of some of Germany's more out-there laws regarding Perceptional Property, if Youtube simply ignores GEMA, they can lose their license to trade in Germany.

Strike another one up for moneyed interests stealing culture through buying people. And they say slavery is dead!
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That One Guy (profile), 25 Jan 2013 @ 1:36am

Re: Re: Re:
I believe you're talking the comment to mean the opposite of what it was intended to, where the 'lets it pass' bit was implying GEMA has pretty much a free-pass when it comes to shutting things down like that, and so whoever was dealing with the claim for youtube wouldn't even bother looking at the merits before acting.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Jan 2013 @ 2:35am

like all the entertainment industries and the various collection agencies, they have gotten far too big for their boots. they dont even conceal the fact any more that what they are doing isn't going to benefit the artists at all, simply increase the size of the coffer!
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Discover Panda (profile), 25 Jan 2013 @ 2:38am

Don't pay GErmanMAfia
Unfortunately, this video is available again in Germany because I�m using Netherlands VPN :trol:

I�d better pay $3 to SEED4ME VPN or HMA.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Jan 2013 @ 2:50am

Re: Re: Re:
Yes, what That One Guy said.
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The Real Michael, 25 Jan 2013 @ 5:53am

Re:
Ultimately, anytime that content is put under lock and key, the artists lose in the end. A musician's primary goal is to be heard by as many people as is possible and, it goes without saying, this cannot be accomplished while access is being stomped out.
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The Real Michael, 25 Jan 2013 @ 5:54am

Re:
That was funny.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Jan 2013 @ 6:33am

GESTAPO!
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Iori Fujita, 1 Feb 2013 @ 4:01pm

Ishizawa's Goldberg Variations on WikiPedia
I don't want Ishizawa's performance to be heard for free on the WikiPedia Pages. This "free" is based on the business which is making external profit.

MagicPiano says;
On that note, I'm now watching this youtube video in Germany without any GEMA disclaimers and all videos on the OpenGoldberg channel are freely available here. GEMA is known for being very quick with copyright claims even when the artists involved have not signed any agreements with GEMA for the collection of royalties. So in this case the GEMA dispute with Youtube seems to have been solved or GEMA simply didn't ever care about it in the first place. De728631 (talk) 17:46, 7 December 2012 (UTC)
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