The Figure Skating War on Youtube

[NaVi]

Lucky you, I haven't. I took a peek today at my only fanfest which is Keiji's, and the vast majority of non-show, non-Japanese events have been taken down. There are a few lurking around, but most GP, Challengers, Universiade, 4CC, Worlds, are simply gone, and when I search online, not even sites like Dailymotion or bilibili are of much help. I was searching in kanji, too.
Some folks mentioned new video re-uploads by youtubers, but I haven't seen a single one, so I wonder what I am missing.

My interests are pretty limited... which is basically (russian) ladies... and it's not hard to find their videos... trying to search for Keiji's videos really is a ghost town.

If you're desperate, there are some figure skating torrents on rutracker. It's kind of hard to figure out though and I haven't used it in a long time(and it wasn't figure skating related). The magnet links may work without signing up but I'm not sure. I'm on linux and getting long file errors.

https://rutracker.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=854

 

[Tavi...]

The problem is that your videos are viewable by people in America, or Japan in the case of the Fuji TV claim, and those networks have paid good money for their people to see their content and not some bootleg videos that might reduce the chance of people subscribing to their services.

If your videos were not viewable in USA or Japan or anywhere else the copyright claims were coming from then you might not have the same problem, though of course they could just be scouring the internet for any bootleg videos out there, they are illegal after all, or at least infringing someone's copyright, presumably the ISU's.

Unh hunh. Except I’m a US subscriber to NBC Sports Gold and was formerly a subscriber to Ice Network - for years - but because the Sports Gold figure skating package is new, and because USFS did not transfer Icenetwork content to Sports Gold or make it otherwise available for a fee, old content is not available even to paying subscribers. Basically the rights holders are sitting on content and thumbing their noses at the rest of us. As someone who worked in intellectual property law for years I’m aware of the issues and the competing interests at stake - but I don’t think the way things are being handled currently is wise or equitable.

 

[La Rhumba]

The problem is that your videos are viewable by people in America, or Japan in the case of the Fuji TV claim, and those networks have paid good money for their people to see their content and not some bootleg videos that might reduce the chance of people subscribing to their services.

If your videos were not viewable in USA or Japan or anywhere else the copyright claims were coming from then you might not have the same problem, though of course they could just be scouring the internet for any bootleg videos out there, they are illegal after all, or at least infringing someone's copyright, presumably the ISU's.

The term "bootleg videos" sounds like an illicit recording of a Stones gig or something. I seriously doubt hordes of Americans are going to stampede to watch the 21st ranked (British) Lady or 25th ranked (British) Man from Worlds, who most of their viewers will not even have heard of, and who are both Amateur sports people who have to work to pay for their training. If people didn't make recordings of these skaters, then there would be no record of their participation other than the stats, their memories and photos. According to a friend in America, she could still see my videos up to a couple of days ago. Hopefully YouTube will have rejected NBC Universal's claim, as it seems to me if neither Eurosport nor BBC have issued Copyright Claims, then NBC have got a :curse: cheek!

 

[ice coverage]

The term "bootleg videos" sounds like an illicit recording of a Stones gig or something. I seriously doubt hordes of Americans are going to stampede to watch the 21st ranked (British) Lady or 25th ranked (British) Man from Worlds, who most of their viewers will not even have heard of, and who are both Amateur sports people who have to work to pay for their training. ...

"Bootleg" remains an apt descriptor, no matter how few people would want to watch.

---

… Fortunately, it eventually did start working properly again. But that was not until this side of the New Year.

So, I'm afraid you may be in for a long wait for it to rectify itself. ...

Not that anyone should care, but YouTube's Upload Date filter eventually did start working again for me several days ago.

(I am glad that it fixed itself, although I have no idea what prompted the fix -- still the same device and browsers.)

 

[La Rhumba]

"Bootleg" remains an apt descriptor, no matter how few people would want to watch.

Funnily enough many retired skaters thank people for having recorded skating programmes on their old VHS machines 25-30 years and uploading to YouTube, and not only bringing pleasure to them, but to many fans around the world. Who exactly is being fiddled out of money in those instances, which is what the term "bootleg" means?

 

[ice coverage]

Funnily enough many retired skaters thank people for having recorded skating programmes on their old VHS machines 25-30 years and uploading to YouTube, and not only bringing pleasure to them, but to many fans around the world. Who exactly is being fiddled out of money in those instances, which is what the term "bootleg" means?

Bootleg = "to produce, reproduce, or distribute illicitly or without authorization," per Merriam-Webster dictionary. Similar definitions are in other dictionaries.

If I do not have access to an official authorized source for something I want to see, a bootleg video can be a welcome alternative. But I for one do not delude myself that it is not bootleg.

 

[La Rhumba]

Bootleg = "to produce, reproduce, or distribute illicitly or without authorization," per Merriam-Webster dictionary. Similar definitions are in other dictionaries.

If I do not have access to an official authorized source for something I want to see, a bootleg video can be a welcome alternative. But I for one do not delude myself that it is not bootleg.

I've never heard of that dictionary you quote from, but I find your remarks offensive.
a) I have paid for a Eurosport Player subscription and a BBC License Fee, so I am perfectly entitled to watch both. I chose to record and share videos of British skaters with other fans, for which I did entirely for non-profit reasons. The connotation of bootleg in Britain is that someone is making money from something illicit, and
b) If my videos are blocked in America, then I'm glad you can't see them.

 

[ice coverage]

I've never heard of that dictionary you quote from ...

In the U.S., it is a well-respected dictionary.

 

[madraykin]

"Bootleg" remains an apt descriptor, no matter how few people would want to watch.

---

Not that anyone should care, but YouTube's Upload Date filter eventually did start working again for me several days ago.

(I am glad that it fixed itself, although I have no idea what prompted the fix -- still the same device and browsers.)

YouTube deliberately turned it off due to videos of the Christchurch shooting - https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/18/facebook-youtube-worked-to-remove-copied-new-zealand-shooting-videos.html

No idea why it took them so long to switch it back on again though.

 

[Edwin]

YouTube deliberately turned it off due to videos of the Christchurch shooting - https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/18/facebook-youtube-worked-to-remove-copied-new-zealand-shooting-videos.html

No idea why it took them so long to switch it back on again though.

YouTube is powerful, but not omnipotent (yet!)

Machine algorhythms are used to detect copyright infringments (by detecting a static broadcaster's logo, or using a musical 'footprint') apart from human readable descriptions.
Extremist, crime, suicide, child abuse videos etc aren't always easy to detect, since the uploader tries to mask them as innocent, so YT probably used a set time so the item has lost its newsworthyness.
Any part of that abhorred video is probably blacklisted, but will still finds its way out.
And has to be reported right away by anybody who stumbles across it.

Why YT goes with such vehemency after figure skating videos is beyond me, but still a great lot can be found.
Just save them to your computer a.s.a.p. for it is 'here today, gone tomorrow'.

 

[Edwin]

Are any links to videos posted here safe?

I would assume some rights holders read in on message boards or use search engines to find videos from certain events and have them presented almost on a platter ....

 

[surimi]

^ if so, then fanfest videos are at risk, and those in the archives, but would 'they' buy GS access to competition forums just to view videos to pounce at?

 

[Edwin]

^ if so, then fanfest videos are at risk, and those in the archives, but would 'they' buy GS access to competition forums just to view videos to pounce at?

Why not? It's only a few dollars, nothing compared what they paid for the rights to the event.

Are all sections of this board searchable by search engine automatons?

 

[surimi]

Why not? It's only a few dollars, nothing compared what they paid for the rights to the event.

Are all sections of this board searchable by search engine automatons?

I'm not speaking about money. I'm speaking about if they'd want to bother create an account and all. That takes a bit of time, whereas I'd rely on autosearch, scripts, whatever... if I were them.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Take the music for the fan video I am currently starting to make for a skater I like.

I decided that I wanted to use a song by a particular singer from England, because this singer has family heritage in both my country (Northern Ireland) and the country the skater is from (Top Secret). But, the thing is, I don't actually like any of her own songs. However, I found a video of her doing an accoustic version of a song that was originally written and recorded by an Australian singer and a French DJ. And it was beautiful!

If anybody is curious to know what I was talking about, please see this post (which includes the link to watch the finished video):

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?56054&p=2391767&viewfull=1#post2391767

This issue is seriously confusing and needs a solution ASAP for the future of Figure Skating to survive.

My Worlds videos of *only* British skaters from Eurosport Player & BBC coverage were initially blocked in Japan due to Fuji TV copyright claims - I was relieved my account wasn't deleted, I lost my previous YouTube account about 12 years ago over copyright claims, it was heartbreaking - and now NBC Universal have put in copyright claims, so my videos are blocked in America. What have my British coverage videos got to do with America? The irony is, no claims from either BBC or Eurosport.

When I was signed into YouTube to upload the aforementioned Fan Video, I discovered that my interview with the same skater had been blocked in all countries.

The reason? The music I had used as the background to the introduction!

A 25 minute interview got blocked because of music that was playing in the background for just the first 30 seconds or so!

When I clicked into the Copyright claim it said the following:

Copyright summary and status

There are some visibility restrictions on your video. However, your channel isn't affected.

[TABLE="class: grid"]
[TR]
[TD]Channel impact[/TD]
[TD]Visibility[/TD]
[TD]Monetisation[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Not affected[/TD]
[TD]Blocked[/TD]
[TD]Ineligible[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]The Content ID claim on your video doesn't affect your channel. This is not a copyright strike.[/TD]
[TD]No one can view this video due to one or more of the Content ID claims below.[/TD]
[TD]You're not in the YouTube Partner Programme.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

The content identified in your video is listed below, along with details and actions.

[TABLE="class: grid"]
[TR]
[TD]Content used[/TD]
[TD]Claim type[/TD]
[TD]Impact on the video[/TD]
[TD]Actions[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Arabian Nights (From “Aladdin”)[/TD]
[TD]Audio claim[/TD]
[TD]Video cannot be seen or monetised[/TD]
[TD]Select action[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Craig Toungate[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]​

There is an option to change the music within YouTube. But, I don’t have a clue how to do it, or even if it would work, given that it was a short part of the music that was used, and the rest of the video just had the audio from the microphone.

So, it might be easier to replace the music myself and upload again. Except that the video took 12 hours to upload the last time, and knowing my luck the same thing would happen again with the new music I used!

These things are sent to try us.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Hevari]

Interesting discussion, yes...

For me - that problem has somethig connected with ISU itself... Not witn NBC or other broedcasters, but with ISU itself. Because for example the NBC has broadcasting rights not for skating only but for various other sports as well. And there we see another situation...

For example I am not only figure skating lover but also an avid motorsports lover. And on youtube I can find maybe all Indianapolis 500 videos since the race appeared on tv (mid-60th) and lots of other indycar/champcar and nascar races from late 70-th till now. Even last season of IndyCar when the NBC became exclusive broadcast right holder - all races are there and nothing is/was deleted or blocked. And this season races too. And junior open-wheel series races are there as well...

So maybe Jay Frye and other IndyCar guys did something about broadcasting and broadcasting rights that ISU did not do? I dunno....

 

[GINO]

Why are videos blocked even on the official ISU channel? For example, Trusova performances at the Grand Prix series this year almost all unavailable. All short programs: Kaunas(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JflN7oIrdI&list=PLuB703eaMDlLuEsnM_zWm856sTvzuN8V4&index=1), Erevan(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F83b8Z4F44w&list=PLuB703eaMDlIxfOYfjKZtYiE1m31-H1AA&index=26), Vancouver(I couldn't even find the link) and historical free skate in Kaunas with 3 quads(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ3GvpMh_cE&list=PLuB703eaMDlI6P5L7FQoVCeASjIvs35lF&index=1). I thought ISU had broadcast rights

 

[MissBeeFarm]

Why are videos blocked even on the official ISU channel? For example, Trusova performances at the Grand Prix series this year almost all unavailable. All short programs: Kaunas(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JflN7oIrdI&list=PLuB703eaMDlLuEsnM_zWm856sTvzuN8V4&index=1), Erevan(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F83b8Z4F44w&list=PLuB703eaMDlIxfOYfjKZtYiE1m31-H1AA&index=26), Vancouver(I couldn't even find the link) and historical free skate in Kaunas with 3 quads(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ3GvpMh_cE&list=PLuB703eaMDlI6P5L7FQoVCeASjIvs35lF&index=1). I thought ISU had broadcast rights

My guess is that ISU might have the broadcast rights but not the music rights.

 

[Hevari]

My guess is that ISU might have the broadcast rights but not the music rights.

That is one more issue that ISU has to address. Because as I explored - mostly blocked are the videos where music rightholders are WMG, UMG and SME (and their subsidiaries). So ISU can talk with them and make an agreement about that... or something. Because it ain't right - fans who post videos can't be responsible for music on the background...

 

[Jaana]

I´d suppose the clips in Russian language still exist on youtube? Shoud we learn Russian, LOL? Anyway, I think that in future maybe the competition clips could be put on yoube without mentioning the competition, sp/fs or the skater´s name and the links given on competition area?