[edit]: The initial post was too long and overly complicated things. People clearly got confused about what was going on about the situation. I have revised the title and this post to better reflect the situation as a whole. I hope this is able to provide a better explanation:

: Sees that Bowler uploaded a video with my footage on it
: I did not give him permission
: Due to thin-skin and ego, I take it as an attack and to make myself feel good
: Argument was that I was unaware whether the video qualified under Fair Use and that I did not want my footage on there
: Decide to contact him and try to negotiate removing my part before claims
: Cannot come to a conclusion between us two
: Think about situation on my own for a couple of days and decide to use the Youtube Copyright Claim form in order to see if it was considered Fair Use
: Thinks that the System would provide a clear explanation on whether it was Fair Use or not by a third party (hahahha -- how naive)
: Video gets eventually taken down
: I feel that's a bit disappointing. The system did not give me an answer to whether it was Fair Use or not and it immediately took the video down.
: Other option is to take it to Court.
: Not interested in that for something as petty as this.
: Automated letter tells me to provide a statement that legal action is occurring or have the video be put up after 10 business days
: Waits 10 business days
: Nothing happens
: Waits longer to see if it was an error
: Clearly wasn't being put back up
: Absolve the claim myself and the video is put back up
: Did not want to keep the video down just because I could
: After reading up on Fair Use a bit later, I feel confident that it qualifies under that
: Ultimately decide that there was no reason why I should have acted this way in regards to this situation
: It was a non-issue and a petty attempt at making myself feel good
: Video with footage taken from it is under Creative Commons now
: If I had a legitimate problem with it, I could have been more mature about the situation and it would have been better resolved that way.
: Exploitation of the Youtube System is very real and not something that I want to encourage or be part of (it can easily happen to me too, and I would not like that)
: Will do better in order to act in a more professional manner and to not be as thin-skinned

i was about to roast ur a**, but since u used at the end u cool.

what a contribution to the discussion

sorry but would you have done this to anyone else? it seems like a reach to take the perspective of "well the principle" at the end of your post. u are right that the stuff u record and put your time into editing is yours and you have the right to request someone to remove it and copyright strike them if they don't.... but if u just did it to bowler bc he's a big ssf2 content creator and if someone else (smaller) did it you would have nothing to say to them then that certainly switches up the underlying story here a bit.

also who is this post for?

Was it even known that this happened recently

@TSON: This is where it gets into "what ifs". Would I have put a copyright strike on JoeyTheOnePieceFan who has 10 subscribers for using my footage? I do know not the answer. I will tell you that people have taken some of my edited work (of an already copyrighted game) and used them on their channel. I requested him to take it down and left a comment on all of the videos that used the format. It did not escalate to the point of a copyright strike as I knew that claiming that three different parts: A number + letter code, An audio symbol, and a self-modeled photo of a World of Warcraft boss do not necessarily belong to me and with it being a still photo, I would have even less claim to it.

The work I do upload is mine and I do have the right to request it be taken down, but I don't have the right to copystrike them. I technically have the right to copystrike them and take it to the courts, but the individual who is claiming that their footage was stolen would very likely lose due to Fair Use laws. So, while I do have the right to copystrike them, if I have the knowledge that I have no legal ground on my actions and that this is ultimately a battle of who has the most money to pursue the legal claims, I should have no reason to it.

What is the point you're trying to push? It feels like you made your decision already and are trying to get me to admit to one of two things: Yes I would copyright a person with a low amount of subscribers / views (he's lying!), or I wouldn't (he only did it to Bowler because he had some level of notoriety!). As I have mentioned, I did this situation out of a way to feel powerful. I will tell you from experience that it feels incredibly good to show your power no matter who it is to. It makes you feel like you're in control and that everyone has to obey your every command (it doesn't feel too good afterwards). With that in mind, I would say that it wouldn't be unlikely that I did it to a smaller YouTuber. Bowler did have a lot more capital and that did make it a bit more appealing for me to do the things I did (as with anyone higher on the totem pole) However, to say that I wouldn't do the things to smaller channels, well, the channel above was around 2,500 subs when that situation happened. I have given you what I did to other channels and the reasons for my actions and they don't necessarily correlate with only doing it to big channels. I would be lying if I said yes or no to the question though.

This post is for three groups of people: Myself, Bowler, and the general people of McleodGaming. It's for myself as I wanted to express where I went wrong with my actions (and what my actions were) and to make a very bold reminder to myself on what to do / not to do. Bowler has his parts because he does deserve an apology for what I did wrong in the situation. The people of Mcleodgaming have their part as this situation did get revealed on Flash Nation, so I have an obligation to wrap it up. The forum post sums it up nicely and offers a very clear point of view on myself. The situation was made public, so I have the choice of either ending it myself or letting someone from Flash Nation try to explain my actions to everyone else. I know from experience that some of these guys have personal vendettas and would have no problem revealing it later on. Better to take care of the situation myself.


TheBlue10: I haven't been part of any SSF2 chatroom from when I lifted the claim, so I cannot give an answer. Regardless of that, it is a situation which people know about, and I have no doubt -- will use it against me -- so I either let them portray me however they want, or I explain my actions clearly on my own forum post. Choice 2 was more appealing.

I just want to point out, without necessarily throwing shade at anyone, how funny it is we have a copyright dispute over a game that is clearly in violation of copyright.

omg a copyright strike. you a**

Ik this is like 4 days old but dude....


You have like 600 subscribers.

You don't even have enough to make money.

So I seriously don't see why you'd copyright anything, as small as you are.


Even if he did use your content, me, having known Bowler for over 2 years, I'm willing to bet any one of my fingers, that he credited you.

So don't come in here with all that.


Js.

Yo mac, are you sure you're retired?
As infrequent as you are, you still appear from time to time, making us think that you still care about the SSF2 community enough to not be considered retired.

I am in disbelief. You have responded to my post, but seemingly have not read a single word of what I have said. I thought the Pepe guy was trolling, but I'm not so sure about you.

This post is saying where I went WRONG. I acknowledged my mistakes in the intentions of the Copyright Strike. Copyright Strikes are fine, but in this case, it was not necessary.

You are telling me that I have zero justification to complain because I have 600 subscribers? For your information, I had even LESS subscribers when this occurred, but that is completely irrelevant to the situation.

At what point do I get the green light signal that it's OK to copyright strike someone? 1k subs? 5k subs? Is this number proportional to the person that I am copyright striking them? The answer is none of them.

My content is my content. Whether I litter the video with ads or I make it for non-profit purposes it is MY VIDEO. My videos that are monetized do make money. A livable amount? Hell no. But they are a decent bit of pocket-change at the moment and can only grow. It's really chump change, but I'll take it anyways Money is completely irrelevant though. If any elements of my videos are used, I will make an honest decision on whether it deserves to stay up or not (with respect to Fair Use laws, the copyrighted material, etc.)

A situation where copyright strikes would make sense would be if a bigger channel were to take, for example, my SSF2 strong moves videos or my Epic Battle Fantasy weapon guides.. I do get ad-revenue, and they get people to check out my channel and other videos. Someone with 1 million subscribers would be taking advantage of the already-completed work, would likely profit off of it, and would not get people to check out the original or my other videos. So there you go, one example of a justified copyright strike -- not hard to figure out.

---

You shouldn't make bold claims like that. You obviously do not know Bowler as much as you claim to considering he didn't CREDIT me either. Please Mac, go to this link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pwG2I_aCHw&t=6s) and tell me where the credits are. I'll be waiting for those fingers.

"So, don't come here with all of that" - All of what? I have provided a very clear explanation for my actions, how I felt that they were not made with the best of intentions, and a statement on how I justified my actions as to explain that there was some legitimate reasoning behind them.

What have you brought to this topic? Bold, objectively untrue claims and attempting to label my claims as unjustified due to my subscriber count.

[EDIT: He did offer to credit me in the description after I had contacted him about it. At that point, I had said that I would rather not be credited, but my part be removed. No issues from me not being credited with it under Fair Use.]

Ok dude,
chill.

I mean, you appear to be over reacting to criticisms people give you here. We get that you want to send a message, and that's ok. Just, don't get all purple in the face when someone responds with something you don't agree with.

Also, your posts are wayyy too long. Remember KISS (Keep it short and simple.)

The responses were made in mind of the comment that they are replying to. Pepe says some ridiculous four word response and it's not even worth responding to. The other guys are trying to call me out on a post that I made specifically to call myself out on.

It's just incredibly disappointing that it's even happening. It bothers me to the point that I want to respond to it. Part of me knows that you should pick your battles, but I expect more from these guys. My responses are reasonable though. Sometimes I like to play it up for added effect, but I don't get too personal.

The posts themselves are long and I prefer them that way I really do try to see if there is any unnecessary filler in them, but most of them end up being that length just because I want to cover all positions. Brevity is something to be strived for. However, forums are suited for this type of amount of text. Anyone who is willing to take the situation seriously will have no problems reading it. Videos? Yes, keep them as brief and concise as possible. Forum Topics? They can work with a bit more length due to the text format.

Incredible.


he's right my good man

They are bad criticisms. It's making the situation about completely different other things. Things I have either addressed in the original comment or ultimately don't matter in regards to the situation. My responses were as luke-warm and plain as could be. I didn't attack anyone personally or bring up anything unrelated to the forum topic. They are long. Long does not mean an overreaction. I am covering every single question and rebuttal I can think of when I write them in order to keep the topic moving as efficiently as possible and to avoid unnecessary responses.