
Sir Guy is ready to run TPTB at YouTube through with his big, pointy sword for blocking yet another one of fedoralady's fanvids.
(screencap courtesy of RANet)
I have a sort of love-hate relationship with YouTube. Everyone goes to YouTube to look for vids, it is (pardon the pun) embedded in our pop culture. Yet it feels as capricious at times as the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland. You never know when its going to say off with your head, or no to that video.
Case in point: Recently, I posted an RA fanvid to Elizaveta’s Dreamer at YT. No problem at all. Since it is licensed to UMG, I expected it to be blocked in Germany as is usually the case. Then today I uploaded a second video to an Elizaveta song–same artist/writer, same album–only to discover later it has been blocked in 243 countries (ah, but you CAN see it on YouTube if you happen to visit St. Martin. Which is quite lovely, BTW. I recommend it).
I make my little slideshow videos for my enjoyment and as theRApy and for the pleasure of others. None of us make any money from it; in fact, I know of a number of viewers who have ended up buying mp3s/CDs of artists after discovering them through a fanvid. I honestly don’t think we are taking anything away from the artists; quite the contrary. I think we are bringing them new fans and helping sell more of their music.
A while back, I got so frustrated with YT I opened an account at Vimeo as recommended by some friends in the fandom. Now I have 117 videos at Vimeo and about 90 at YT. The difference between the numbers indicates how many of my vids were blocked in many countries, if not world-wide.
Vimeo seems to have better picture quality; downloads are very easy (although if you have RealPlayer, downloads at any site are easy) and I have never had any issue with a video being blocked. There are more and more RA fanvidders who are establishing accounts at Vimeo. If you have never checked them out, make a visit to http://www.vimeo.com.
Now, as a shameless plug, here is the link to my latest video, Odi Et Amo: I Hate and I Love Unless you live in St. Martin, it’s the only place you’ll be able to see it. 😉
You can watch it here:
http://vimeo.com/36259475