There were two very significant attacks on the Archive's YouTube profile by two separate sources in August, where I almost managed to pick up a couple of copyright strikes in the space of a week or so. Remember that once you hit three, the account is nuked and everything goes away. I was understandably nervous.
The first came from Le Cargo who objected strongly to my posting the collection of session tracks that Tom did for them, so they had YouTube remove the videos and hit me with strike number one. I wrote to them directly and asked if they would please reconsider, making the case that I don't monetise anything and that this whole setup is purely about building a digital museum for fans of the band. They relented, but not before giving me a stern telling-off, then said they would withdraw the strike. One fire had been extinguished, hopefully there wouldn't be any more.
About a week later, Ancienne Belgique served me with a notice of their intent to issue me with a copyright strike in 7 days unless I removed the Music For Life video from 2017 (the one where Tom fell off the piano stool). There was also the inference that they may go ahead anyway and issue the strike even if the clips were gone. So again, I wrote to them directly and pleaded my case and luckily for me they decided not to go ahead with the sanction. It was a relief, but there's a worrying similarity to both of the latest complaints.
The videos that were problematic had been on the profile for a while. They had passed the dreaded YouTube copyright algorithm and were in place for an amount of time that led me to believe they were safe to share. On both occasions, Le Cargo and Ancienne Belgique had seen the clips themselves, or at least somebody saw them and made them aware, and they applied for punitive measures manually. This was not an automatic response by a computer system, it was targeted directly by individuals. It means that I cannot anticipate where future problems will be coming from, and which videos will be the ones that get me into trouble. It's literally a gamble where you put something online and, even if it passes YouTube's own algorithm check, there could be complications down the line and at any time.
I'd like to say that the story ends there but it doesn't. Le Cargo changed their minds. Even after saying they would withdraw their strike, they didn't. As things stand there is still a copyright strike attached to the account a month after it was first applied.
Your word should mean something, shouldn't it?
It turns out that in spite of Cargo's change of heart YouTube told me that the first strike could be taken care of, but only if I attended copyright school (a minor humiliation, but never mind). I did it, and upon successful completion of my atonement I was informed that it would indeed be deactivated...but not until December. That means 3 months of potential disaster just waiting around the corner at any given moment, depending on whether or not somebody gets annoyed at things I've already posted. Two more strikes and once again, the Archive is all through on YouTube. Had Le Cargo done what they assured me they would, it wouldn't be such and urgent consideration. On top of all the other bad news in the world right now, this was a real downer.
Away from the thoroughly depressing drama going on behind the scenes, there were a few photographs here and there this month. Not a lot, but a few. Additionally, the band donated a full signed guitar to an auction which is looking to raise money for cancer research.
Enjoy the snaps,
Editors Instagram September 2020
For all of Editors' previous Instagram posts, go here.
