Fateful copyright removals become fraudulent, hit small videos

“A series of copyright removals have been exposed to Saucepan The community has since late last week removed music videos hosted on YouTube. While Usually this type of work comes at the request of the publisher or studioin this case, Bungie says they have nothing to do with them.

was the case This topic was first raised on Reddit Last week when it was noted that the work of a number of prominent personalities Saucepan The Music Archives, which is a forum-specific sore point, have been removed because their channels were helping to preserve the soundtracks for bits of content – from both Saucepan Games — no longer available in the games themselves.

Things escalated from there over the next few days, as more and more audio videos were removed from the channels of more and more community members and creators, before the removals began expanding into clips people uploaded from scenes from the game that only contained parts of the game. Than playing the soundtrack in the background.

The removals do not mean that we have lost – even if only temporarily – access to this soundtrack, but rather that a number of members of Saucepan The community now has copyright strikes against its YouTube accounts as well.

The takedown spree was originally blamed by community members at the feet of CSC, Bungie’s affiliated partner. But when things escalated further, and Bungie’s videos started to take a hit, it was clear that something was up. A statement issued by the company earlier today is reading:

We are aware of a series of copyright takedowns on YouTube and are seriously investigating. This includes content on our Bungie Channels. These actions are not taken at the request of Bungie or our partners. Please prepare for future updates.

Paraphrasing that tweet – focusing on things that aren’t Made at someone’s request – leaves the door open for automated detection and subsequent takedown notices to fail to be the culprit. If this is indeed the case, it is yet another reminder that for all the convenience and entertainment YouTube has to offer, it also lives in the deepest depths of the technocratic inferno that is late stage capitalism for creators and members of society.