Published October 12, 2019, tags: invidious, patreon
Hello everyone. As most of you have noticed, https://patreon.com/omarroth has been suspended. I'd like to provide some more information on why it was suspended and its current status, as well as what I plan to do moving forward.
I've also provided the full text of my interaction with Patreon support below.
On September 13, I received a notice that the author of a YouTube channel had filed a copyright claim through Patreon. I was not provided a way to contact the claimant in order to resolve the dispute; all communication was through Patreon.
My initial reply was quite short, mainly due to my (naïve, in hindsight) understanding of the claimed infringement.
On September 20, I received a notice that my Patreon had been suspended. A few minutes later I received a second email explaining that websites funded through Patreon should have a proper system in place for handling copyright claims.
At this point, I would like to explain a bit how copyright claims are handled for https://invidio.us.
Most claims I receive are sent to the registered email for the domain (omarroth@protonmail.com). Generally, it's enough to explain the purpose of the site, and that the relevant claim should be forwarded to YouTube. In some cases, the claimant will request that download functionality be disabled.
I have also received claims through the site's host DigitalOcean, who have been quite amicable in handling copyright claims.
In every case, I have done my best to quickly reply and resolve any dispute.
As for Patreon, I have unfortunately not (as of this writing) received any more information about the claim or a valid copyright claim from the YouTube account in question.
At this point I don't believe that the Patreon account will be reinstated, and my experience with their support has indicated it should be better to use alternative platforms.
All posts from Patreon have been mirrored and are available here. I additionally plan on making all future updates available here. Providing them this way provides quite a bit more flexibility and some extra features I enjoy, including proper markdown support. I don't have a way of providing comments, however if you would like to discuss anything, please feel free to drop me an email or hop on the Invidious matrix server.
If you would still like to support the project, I would recommend using Liberapay, or any cryptocurrencies listed here. I've also paused billing for Patreon, so in the unlikely event that it's restored you will not be charged.
Thank you everyone for your support.
The full transcript with support is provided below. The channel name has been removed for their privacy.
Reye, Sep 13, 8:07 AM PDT
Hi there,
We recently received a copyright claim for works you are making available on Patreon. Specifically, the claim comes from XXXXXXXXXX, who owns the YouTube channel XXXXXXXXXX being utilized in the content you share through Patreon.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/XXXXXXXXXX
We ask that you to stop sharing all copyrighted works through your Patreon page.
If we have trouble determining the extent of the potential infringement on your page, we may suspend your account until all claimed materials have been removed.
Thank you in advance for understanding and for addressing this claim. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
All the best,
Reye
Patreon Trust and Safety
Monday - Friday
Omar Roth, Sep 14, 8:14 AM PDT
Hi,
To my knowledge, there is no material from the claimant being distributed through my Patreon page.
Please let me know you have any additional information about the claim or have any questions.
Best,
Omar Roth
Reye, Sep 20, 4:13 AM PDT
Hello,
While we understand that technically you are not making available any materials directly on the Patreon platform, we do have rules about the types of work funded through our services (which are considered to be made available 'on' Patreon).
To use Patreon to fund a separate website, we insist that there be a proper copyright process in place for handling potential infringement (as laid out in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act).
Patreon works to ensure that the sites or servers run by our creators allow for a proper and expeditious removal of potential infringement and provides a showing of actual enforcement by removing works when requested to do so. This is true whether works are embedded or hosted by the site or server.
When we receive claims from a creator that a site is not recognizing or is refusing to action valid copyright claims, we will suspend the account until they can assure us they have a compliant copyright process in place.
All the best,
Reye
Patreon Trust and Safety
Monday - Friday
Omar Roth, Sep 20, 7:29 AM PDT
Hi,
The site in question does not publish or host any content. All content available on the site is provided as it appears on https://www.youtube.com. The relevant URL(s) are:
https://invidio.us/channel/XXXXXXXXXX
DMCA claims sent to omarroth@protonmail.com (the registered email for the domain) will generally receive a response within 3 days.
To my knowledge, I have not received a valid copyright claim for said content.
Best,
Omar Roth
Reye, Sep 23, 11:35 AM PDT
Hello Omar,
The 17 USC 512(d), of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, specifically says that location tools (like embeds or redirects of videos) are considered to be distributions of copyrighted works and are subject to DMCA copyright notifications.
I've also redirected the claimant to the address you gave me.
All the best,
Reye
Patreon Trust and Safety
Monday - Friday
Omar Roth, Sep 29, 8:15 AM PDT
Hi,
I have yet to receive any message from the claimant.
If there is any more information you can provide on the issue I would be extremely grateful.
Best,
Omar Roth
Blaire, Oct 1, 6:23 AM PDT
Hi there Omar,
My name is Blaire and I'll be following up on behalf of Reye.
Regarding your concern, the claimant may or may not decide to write to you via the address provided.
As a reminder, the 17 USC 512(d), of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, specifically says that location tools (like embeds or redirects of videos) are considered to be distributions of copyrighted works and are subject to DMCA copyright notifications.
All the best,
Blaire
Patreon Trust and Safety
Monday - Friday
9am- 6pm PST