C64 Song Music Video Info/Update

Hi guys, to answer a couple of private messages I've received about this, yes my music video "One Of Those Things (feat. C64)" has temporarily disappeared from YouTube. 

Unfortunately an erroneous "takedown" was issued by another user I had never heard of until now, claiming that they wrote the song. 

To be clear, I had never heard their music, I wrote my song in 1991, and my music video was not even monetized (no ads.)

For those interested in the technicalities, sadly YouTube's much-criticized policy is that they do no due diligence before removing a video if another user just requests a DMCA takedown "under penalty of perjury", which is what has happened here. 

To do that due diligence would mean Google would have to hire (pay) a lot more people. It is more profitable for them to let independent artists' work be removed, and for those artists to now face paying more to lawyers than they would ever make from that song, to have said song reinstated.

For the record (and it feels strange that I even feel the need to say this), I first recorded "One Of Those Things" in 1991 and registered it for copyright repeatedly from 1991-1997 and again in 2002 (included in batch lodgings with the US Copyright Office and Stationer's Hall in the UK, as well as with the UK Songwriters Association. The new production was recorded in 2018 but is melodically the same.

Don't worry, I don't live at that address any more ;)

For fun here's one of my original timestamped recordings, back on Cakewalk (anyone remember that program?!):

Despite sending the other party all of that info, MIDI files, and more, they still claim that I stole their song that they claim to have written in 1999 (8 years after mine lol, time travel is fun!) 

The funny thing is actually they are in a way therefore revealing that they may have stolen my song, as I hold the prior date. Of course the truth is nobody stole anything and there are only 8 notes in an octave (or 11 depending on your POV.) 

Nobody owns a genre, or a chord change from D to C. I am also able to say that there perhaps a few similar notes at the start (albeit in different rhythm), which is purely coincidental (I hope, as I wrote them so long before they did!)

I was then forced to complete what YouTube call "Copyright School", to "educate me". 

I also received a "Copyright Strike" against me.

I did find it fascinating so I consulted the Professor of Music at a leading University, who is a PhD Forensic Musicologist, and he gave this informal verdict:

If you were to write out my 1991 and 2018 versions in musical notation 🎼you'd see they were the same, for example:

My 1991: 🎼🎶🎵🎶🎶🎵🎶🎵🎵
My 2018: 🎼🎶🎵🎶🎶🎵🎶🎵🎵
Her 1999: 🎼🎵🎶🎵🎵🎵🎶

If you were to write out her song, you'd see substantial differences to mine (yes this is me saying she didn't copy my 1991 song in 1999.)

Here's my original direct tweet to her about it as she did not have any obvious way to message her without her following me: https://twitter.com/chrisimpsonline/status/993162547237814272 

To be clear, I do not blame the other user, I blame YouTube for such a bad policy that can harm someone's career. Indeed I now see friends of the other user tweeting things at me like "are the other 42 tracks [on your album] rip-offs too". 🤦‍♂️ It's a brave new world! (I have blocked them.)

So that's why I'm writing this in response to your private messages, because I have a duty to counter the libelous implication being made. To quote the forensic musicologist:

I agree. 

Hopefully this will be resolved soon. She has the option to click one button to retract the takedown, but after my working for 24 hours with her, politely, she is still refusing.

It's now with my lawyers.

For now, feel free to enjoy my music here :)

💿 Stream the original album: http://bit.ly/80s10s
💿 Stream the original song: http://bit.ly/2HT8eVn 

Your friend in 1991 retro music,

Chris aka Թҽɾíƒɾɑϲtíϲ