In the early days of Youtube, uploaded videos were limited to 10 minutes in length. Over time, users in “good standing” had their limits increased to a full hour. Last night when I went to upload a video to Youtube, I discovered that my limit had been decreased back down to 15 minutes for “repeated copyright violations.” Youtube was kind enough to provide a link to the multiple claims against my videos (there were 10). Here were the infractions:

– I received one infraction for uploading a video of Mason singing Weird Al’s “The White Stuff” to a karaoke version of The New Kids on the Block song “The Right Stuff” at his 3rd grade talent show while dressed as an Oreo Cookie. The complaint said that this video contained copyrighted New Kids on the Block music, which it did not.

– I received an additional three infractions for three more videos I recorded at the talent show. The fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teachers each came out and performed a song: “Candy Man,” “Thriller,” and the theme to Green Acres. That’s right. Youtube does not allow videos of middle-aged women singing the theme to Green Acres. In retrospect, maybe that’s for the best.

– I received one infraction for uploading a video of Susan and Morgan playing “Michael Jackson: The Experience” on the Nintendo Wii. Youtube complained that this video contains copyrighted Michael Jackson songs in the background. Note that this video did not contain any footage of the game, and all the music you could hear in the clip was underneath the sound of Morgan yelling and Susan laughing. Also note that a search on Youtube for “Michael Jackson The Experience” returns 532,000 results.

– I received one infraction for uploading a video I shot while out looking at Christmas lights. Again, the background music was the problem. A Christmas song was playing on the radio in the background as I shot the video.

– I received two infractions for uploading videos of Guns and Roses performing live in Las Vegas that I shot with my cell phone. I cannot argue with that one as I agree that those songs are copyrighted, but I’m still a little baffled. Searching Youtube for “Guns and Roses live” returns 1,420,000 results. Also, someone recorded the entire concert and uploaded it to Youtube. Search Youtube for “Guns N Roses Full Show” and you’ll find 648,000 results, ranging from the early 90s all the way to 2012.

– I received one infraction for my video “Out of Space,” in which I showed off my collection of arcade games. In this video, Phil Collins’ “Take me Home” was playing in the background on the radio.

And finally…

– I received two infractions for my Literal Music Video version of “The Cars – Drive”. In a Literal Music Video, people replace the lyrics of songs with new lyrics explaining quite literally what’s happening in the song. Here’s one of the wittiest and best examples:

That particular video has been deleted and re-uploaded at least a dozen times. Inspired by that video and others, I made my own for the Cars song, “Drive”. Because it pained me to delete it, I took a screen shot of mine before removing it:

98,615 people watched that video. Based on the feedback I got, most of them laughed. A few of them, based on my singing, told me not to quit my day job. (That was never the plan.) This video received two complains, one for the music (again, it was the karaoke version, not the real version) and a second one for the video itself.

Note that in none of these cases was I making any money off of any of these videos. I did not have “monetize” clicked nor did I have any ads on any of my videos. The video of Mason singing “The White Stuff” had 58 views; the ones of his teachers singing had fewer than that.

Youtube offered me a few alternatives to correct these videos: change or remove the audio, dispute the claims, or delete the videos. For the videos of my home arcade and the Christmas lights, I removed the audio. If you end up watching those videos, turn on some music in your house. (Not too loudly — Youtube is listening!) For all of the other videos except for one, I deleted them. There’s no since in leaving a video of Guns and Roses performing on Youtube with no audio, especially when there are half a million better versions of them playing on Youtube!

The one video I challenged was Mason singing in the talent show. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think whoever owns the copyright to the New Kids on the Block can file a claim against a video in which that song does not appear. Maybe I’m wrong; we’ll see. For the time being though, my rights have been reinstated and I can now again upload videos!