 What happened?

 Proposed Measures: Ensuring Your YouTube Channel Security

• Forward any communication from YouTube to youtube@filmmusic.io. This assists Filmmusic in pursuing legal proceedings against YouTube if necessary.
• Despite YouTube's assurances in their emails, they do not remove links from description texts. As such, we advise that you undertake this action independently.
• Preserve your original description text in a secure format, such as a text file or Word document. For the time being, eliminate all links to Filmmusic.io from your YouTube video descriptions.
• If feasible, dispute the email received from YouTube. Please note that many users have encountered errors when attempting to click on the link provided in the email.
• Publicly express your concerns to the YouTube Support Team via Twitter.
• Stay informed about updates on this status page and plan to reinstate the links at a later time. Only the link to the song will be necessary.

Received an Email from YouTube? Kindly Forward It

FAQ and information

• What damage has been done because of Youtube so far?
  This situation has had several adverse effects on our operations, the Filmmusic.io community, and our mutual work:

  Loss of productive time: Addressing these issues has consumed much time and energy that could have been better spent on improving our platform and sourcing new music for you all to enjoy.

  Reputation damage: As a provider of Creative Commons music, our success heavily relies on our reputation. YouTube's wrongful labeling of our website as a source of deceptive content casts an undeserved shadow over our credibility, which we understand could impact your trust in our services.

  Users are coerced into copyright infringement: We recognize the profound implications this issue presents in terms of copyright compliance. Under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, acknowledgment of the author and the inclusion of the license link is required for use. The forced removal of these links by YouTube not only undermines the principle of our service but also places users unwittingly in a position where they might be violating copyright rules. This adds an additional layer of distress to our users who are committed to creating within legal boundaries and respecting the work of musicians we host. It's crucial that YouTube corrects this misstep to protect the integrity of copyright adherence and the value of Creative Commons licensing.

  Financial impact: The uncertainty created by YouTube's actions has led to a significant drop in the number of downloads and plays of our tracks. This, in turn, leads to a decrease in advertising revenue (~400-500%), which we rely on to keep our platform free and accessible to everyone. See the graphic here.

  Loss of user trust: We know that you count on us to meet your needs for royalty-free music. The turmoil created by YouTube has left many users uncertain, and we have seen a concerning decrease in the download and playback numbers on our platform.
• Consequences of False Allegations in German Law
  Under German law, making false allegations about a website being fraudulent can have several serious consequences, primarily grounded in defamation and business disparagement. Please note that the following provides only an overview of the relevant laws and possible consequences.

  Defamation (Üble Nachrede) - Section 186 of the German Penal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB)

  If you falsely accuse a website of being fraudulent, you might be found guilty of defamation, also known as "Üble Nachrede". Defamation is the act of spreading false information about someone that could harm their reputation. If convicted, the penalty can be imprisonment up to one year or a fine.

  Insult (Beleidigung) - Section 185 StGB

  Even if the false allegations do not meet the criteria for defamation, they might still be considered an insult, or "Beleidigung", which carries similar penalties as defamation (imprisonment up to one year or a fine).

  Business disparagement (Kreditgefährdung) - Section 824 Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB)

  If your false claim harms the business of the website (for example, by scaring away potential customers or business partners), this could also be considered business disparagement ("Kreditgefährdung") according to the German Civil Code. If convicted, you could be held liable for any damages caused by the disparagement.

  Unfair competition law (Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb, UWG)

  If the false allegations are made in a business context (for example, if you are a competitor of the website in question), you might also be found guilty of violating the Act Against Unfair Competition ("Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb"). This could result in a fine, and you may also be liable for any damages caused.
• Information for press
  In today's digital world, the use of algorithms, artificial intelligence (AI), and bots for content regulation has become a common practice. Tech giants like YouTube increasingly rely on these technologies to curb the spread of harmful or fraudulent content. However, while these technologies can be helpful in automating and facilitating content control, there's also a flip side: AI and bots aren't perfect, and their mistakes can have significant consequences for content creators.

  An illustrative example is the recent experience of the website Filmmusic.io, which offers free Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 music. YouTube users who utilize this music for their videos and provide the necessary copyright and license information received emails informing them that their links were removed for allegedly containing fraudulent content. In a more notable case, a user's channel was even deleted for merely using the free music offered. Although YouTube later admitted the mistake and restored the channel, this incident starkly highlights the problem of error-prone automated content review.

  AI and bots are only as good as the data they were trained on, and they're incapable of replacing human judgment or context awareness. They follow strict algorithms, and when a particular content hits their set rules, they execute the programmed action without considering possible mistakes or injustices. This can lead to false positives, where legitimate and law-abiding contents are mistakenly marked as fraudulent or harmful and removed.

  For content creators, this is a tremendous burden. They invest time, effort, and resources into their work, only to see their contents arbitrarily removed or their channels deactivated. This can limit their reach, harm their reputation, and even affect their income, especially if they rely on platforms like YouTube to earn a living. Additionally, the lack of a transparent and efficient grievance process often results in these mistakes not being corrected promptly, further exacerbating the damage.

  Delegating content control to AI and bots may be a viable solution for platforms dealing with an overwhelming amount of content, but it should not come at the expense of content creators. It's crucial that these technologies be improved to reduce errors, and that human oversight and intervention always remain an integral part of the process.

  Furthermore, there must be clear and effective communication channels for content creators to voice concerns or complaints and challenge unfair treatment. Platforms should also be more transparent about their rules and how their algorithms work, to give content creators a fair chance to avoid violations and safely share their contents.

  In a world where AI and bots play an increasingly large role, we must be aware that despite their advantages, they also have their limitations and faults. It's our collective responsibility to ensure they are used in a way that benefits everyone and doesn't unfairly disadvantage anyone. Given the rapid pace of technological advancements, this is a challenge we can't afford to ignore.

  ---

  Press release (pdf, english) | Press release (pdf, german)
  Press release (google docs, english) | Press release (google docs, german)
• Are you going to file a lawsuit against Youtube?
  Yes, the process has already been started.

26/26 - Youtube is going completely crazy: Youtube now even classifies websites of government institutions as fraud

Sascha Ende 

4 hrs ago

Things are starting to get crazy. Youtube now even classifies websites of government institutions as fraud :D
Source: https://twitter.com/ghidraninj...

https://ghidra-sre.org/ -- A software reverse engineering (SRE) suite of tools developed by NSA's Research Directorate in support of the Cybersecurity mission

Ghidra on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Would the NSA perhaps like to join my lawsuit against google/youtube? Then we could save a bit of costs.

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25/26 - Donations by artists, thank you

Sascha Ende 

4 hrs ago

Some artists donated to the project Filmmusic today within their means. Thank you very much <3

200 Eur by Alexander Nakarada and Kevin MacLeod
50 Eur by Kalak
10 Eur by Frank Schröter

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24/26 - Final corrections to my draft tomorrow

Sascha Ende 

7 hrs ago

I have a meeting with my attorney tomorrow for final corrections to my draft. Then I hope that as soon as possible the injunction against Youtube/google goes out and the lawsuit is started.

By the way, even today I was forwarded emails that Youtube sent TODAY. Thank you for forwarding me the emails.

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23/26 - The reason why you get an error screen when appealing

Sascha Ende 

22 hrs ago

Here it is: The explanation why the link for an appeal in Youtube's emails almost never works.

One user had direct contact with Youtube Partner Support. This case also confirms that Youtube has made mistakes and admits them (upon request).

There really does seem to be a battle going on here between "bot out of bounds" and employees who are "straightening everything out". Is this the future that artificial intelligence is supposed to bring us? Has the battle against AI already begun behind the scenes at YouTube?

Imagine you find yourself imprisoned at the slightest suspicion from an AI, and you only get out if you prove your innocence. Isn't it usually the case that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty? Thanks to AI, this paradigm is now being flipped.

YouTube essentially considers you guilty first, only to say later: Oh, sorry, actually not.

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22/26 - Almost 6 hours of work for the first draft

Sascha Ende

24 hrs ago

After almost 6 hours of work I have finished a 25 page document which is necessary for the filing of an injunction and the lawsuit. What an unnecessary work. Actually I had planned to work on new songs after the vacation - somehow nothing came of it until now.

Anyway, thanks for all your emails, this was extremely helpful for the evidence.

I'm curious how it will go on now, it doesn't happen every day that a small man sues a big company like google.

Here is a summary from chatGPT of my work today:

------------------

In the document, the author asserts that YouTube is unjustifiably removing links to their website, filmmusic.io, from the platform. This removal of links, in the author's opinion, forces users of their music to potentially infringe on the terms of the CC BY 4.0 License, as they can no longer comply by providing the required attributions to the music and the license.

The author contends that YouTube's actions are damaging to their business and reputation, as the removal of links and misrepresentations result in considerable harm to their company and good standing. Moreover, it also affects the authors of the music published on the website, as the CC BY 4.0 License provides exposure for these authors by making the music accessible to other users. These actions by YouTube, therefore, significantly reduce this promotional effect, leading to a loss of revenue for the authors.

Furthermore, YouTube's behavior has considerable long-term impacts on the trust of users in the author's website. By misrepresenting the website and removing links to it, it becomes more challenging for users to utilize music from the site in the future. This not only has immediate impacts on the author's business but also harms their future business prospects and the growth of their website.

The author also mentions instances where users who received a pattern email from YouTube and lodged an immediate protest, in some cases, quickly received confirmation from YouTube that the links to the website did not violate their community guidelines. This points towards faulty automated decision-making on YouTube's part. Additionally, the link to lodge a protest, included in YouTube's emails, often led to an error page, denying users the chance to lodge their protest.

There have even been cases where a user's YouTube channel was automatically deleted after linking to filmmusic.io. After the affected user lodged a protest, the channel was restored, and YouTube admitted that no breach of their guidelines had occurred, further pointing to YouTube's mistaken judgments and inappropriate actions against users of the website and the website itself.

The author notes a significant decrease in downloads, plays, and other statistical values on their website by up to 50% following these emails and actions from YouTube. They also had to spend considerable time and resources to find temporary solutions and mitigate the impacts of YouTube's damaging actions, which greatly increased their workload and resulted in less time for regular business activities.

The author also points out that YouTube operates its own "YouTube Audio Library" and does not rule out that these actions by YouTube may be an attempt to eliminate or reduce competition.

In conclusion, given the reasons and evidence provided, the author demands an injunction against YouTube to stop the false representation of their website and allow users to set links to their website, filmmusic.io, in accordance with the terms of the CC BY 4.0 License.

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21/26 - Legal steps against GOOGLE/Youtube are now being initiated

Sascha Ende

yesterday

I had a phone conversation with my lawyer that lasted almost an hour. In consultation with my lawyer, we will obtain a temporary injunction against Youtube and simultaneously initiate legal proceedings. I will have to lay out the costs first and they will be several thousand euros, and I will also demand compensation. If I win, I will not have to bear these costs, of course.

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20/26 - Let's talk about a court case

Sascha Ende

yesterday

I will have a phone call with my lawyer regarding a lawsuit against Youtube in 45 minutes at 4pm (german time).

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19/26 - The last answer last week from Youtube to my lawyer

Sascha Ende

yesterday

This is the ridiculous last answer my lawyer got from Youtube. You get the feeling that there are only bots working everywhere.

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18/26 - The team is a bot

Sascha Ende

2 days ago

This is how Youtube works. All automated!
Interesting: https://transparencyreport.goo...

It's not a "Team", it's a bot.

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17/26 - Temporary change of attribution for Youtube users

Sascha Ende

2 days ago

I made some temporary changes to the download window. F*** Youtube.

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16/26 - I do not trust GOOGLE anymore

Sascha Ende

2 days ago

I don't trust GOOGLE anymore. Also, how can you trust a company that arbitrarily deletes content? That's why I have removed all GOOGLE services from this website:

1. google Analytics (almost never looked in anyway).
2. recaptcha (doesn't matter here)
3. google Adsense (for 1,50 Eur daily I don't allow google advertising here anymore)

Another small advantage: Since I don't include any external services anymore, the annoying cookie banner is also gone. The site is also now much faster for everyone. I will find a new solution to finance this site - even if it's only the donations.

It may also not be a bad idea in general to dissolve all dependencies prior to any pending lawsuit.

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15/26 - Massive financial damage and loss of advertising revenue

Sascha Ende

2 days ago

Financial damage: Loss of advertising revenue since the first Youtube emails were sent. I have marked in yellow when the first emails were reported to me. In the last few days, the ad revenue was only a paltry 1-2 euros per day. If the trend continues, it will not be possible without donations to continue to operate this website without me having to pay something privately.

Downloads and plays on this website also have dropped about 50-70%.

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14/26 - EMA Motorbikers story

EMA Motorbiker has appealed with reference to this page and Youtube has admitted the mistake. In this case was one of the few who did not get an error displayed and could appeal.

Links to screenshots: Screenshot 1 and Screenshot 2

EMA Motorbiker

2 days ago

Van: YouTube <no-reply@youtube.com>
Date: zo 30 jul. 2023 07:14
Subject: 📣 YouTube heeft je content verwijderd

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EMA Motorbiker

2 days ago

@Sascha That didn't take long. I'm cleared! Lol.
(Original e-mail forwarded to youtube@filmmusic.io

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13/26 - The world of lies on Reddit

Sascha Ende

3 days ago

It is insane. On Reddit some poeple write that I would steal music from other artists like Kevin MacLeod: https://www.reddit.com/r/youtu...

The (sad?) truth is: Kevin MacLeod earns more money monthly through Filmmusic.io than I have only through advertising revenue here to finance the whole website. Kevin MacLeod gets 100% of his earnings and does not have to give anything to Filmmusic - like every artist: https://filmmusic.io/artist/ap...

Hey, but that's okay. It was always my goal to offer small artists a platform where they can offer their music with 100% self-determination. Did you know that artists on other sites like Audiojungle have to give up to 60% of their earnings?

Why I am doing this? Because this is not a for-profit website, this website is just my hobby - not my job. I do not live off this website and never intend to. I am a programmer in the automotive industry and just have fun with music - and fun when others have fun with it.

The whole situation with Youtube is really pissing me off more and more every day. I guarantee that I will sue Youtube next week for all this stress - and if I have to spend all the rest of the money on the Filmmusic account for it: It's worth it to me when a big company simply has no regard for content creators.

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12/26 - Youtube admits mistake: Swaggy Shane is back

Sascha Ende

4 days ago

After Swaggy Shane's channel was blocked because of links to Filmmusic.io, see: https://filmmusic.io/u/SaschaE...

... he has appealed to Youtube. Here is the email from Youtube as a screenshot. Youtube confirmed (as always) that it was a mistake by Youtube.

Swggy Shane's channel was indeed blocked and is now available again: https://www.youtube.com/channe...

The whole situation is slowly becoming almost unsurpassable in terms of absurdity.

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11/26 - The first time: Youtube channel of a user deleted

Sascha Ende

4 days ago

It is ridiculous and unbelievable at the same time. A first user, who already received an email in advance on 2.5 July because of a link to Filmmusic, now tells me that his channel (with 1 video and 2 shorts) has been deleted from Youtube. The user has appealed and will keep me updated on any news.

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10/26 - There is no end to the nonsense

Sascha Ende

4 days ago

I still get emails from users - especially emails that were sent from Youtube just today. Also Youtube is complaining about EVERY link to filmmusic.io, not only the link to the license. This is despite the fact that my lawyer has already advised Youtube to refrain from doing so. I have a meeting with my lawyer on Monday and it looks like I will be filing a lawsuit.

I will keep you posted on how much the fun will cost.

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9/26 - Youtube is still sending emails

Sascha Ende

5 days ago

I got this email some minutes ago. Seems that Youtube is still sending emails. Youtube, it's time to get sued?
I posted this on Twitter to the Youtube Team now: https://twitter.com/JonUmKi/st...

If you are also still getting emails after 27 of july, forward the original email to:
youtube@filmmusic.io

Thank you.

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8/26 - Special thanks to the donors

Sascha Ende

5 days ago

To get the problem out of the way as quickly as possible, I had to call in a lawyer who specializes in YouTube and media. Thanks to the donations the lawyer cost me only 10,79 Euro instead of 309,50 Euro. Many thanks to all donors.

List of donors:

100 Eur by EMA Motorbiker - https://m.youtube.com/channel/...
51.64 by Anonymous
50 Eur by Andre - http://blog.kreitlein.de/
20.87 by Anonymous
20 by Barb - https://www.youtube.com/@homea...
20 by Ehrendieter - https://www.ehrendieter.de/
10.61 by Anonymous
10 by CatG
10 by Luis Scholl
5.49 by Anonymous
----------------------
298.61 of 309.40

https://filmmusic.io/donate

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7/26 - Youtube Support on Twitter is aware of the problems

Sascha Ende

5 days ago

Youtube seems to be investigating the problems. Some posts from Twitter regarding the problems:
https://twitter.com/TeamYouTub...
https://twitter.com/SoyPejota/...
https://twitter.com/Reapers_Re...
https://twitter.com/DatHirschi...

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6/26 - Thank you for all your help

Sascha Ende

6 days ago

Thank you for forwarding me all your mails. I get them all. Please understand that I cannot respond to all of them. But every single email helps and is important if it really goes to court.

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5/26 - Forward the Youtube emails to me

Sascha Ende

6 days ago

More evidence would be helpful: You can help me in this law case by forwarding the email you received from Youtube to the email address youtube@filmmusic.io

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4/26 - The first letter to Youtube

Sascha Ende

6 days ago

I would also like to thank you for the numerous donations which make this legal venture a little less risky for me. Yesterday my lawyer wrote a letter directly to Youtube, which went out by email, fax and registered mail to Youtube. Here is the version translated into English by Deepl.com. He has set a deadline until tonight. I am curious. Click here for the large version of the image: https://cdn.filmmusic.io/stora...

There was meanwhile today a standard response from Youtube to my lawyer with the following content:

"Hello,
We have received your YouTube complaint and forwarded it for review. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely
The YouTube Legal Support Team"

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3/26 - I have hired a lawyer against Youtube

Sascha Ende

7 days ago

Since the first messages from users regarding problems with links to Filmmusic.io already came to me a few weeks ago and this has increased massively today, I have now instructed a media lawyer to write to Youtube and ask them to refrain from this "business-damaging behavior". The costs will amount to about 200-300 euros for me for the time being.

I'll probably never see the money again, but I don't think big companies like Youtube treat us users like test objects in a big experimental box. Therefore, I could not reconcile it with my conscience to simply accept such behavior on the part of Youtube.

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2/26 - Youtube admits mistakes

Sascha Ende

7 days ago

One user managed to appeal the email from Youtube - after all, in most cases this was no longer possible. Youtube admits in this email that it is a mistake. The answer in this case was in German.

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1/26 - There are problems with copyright information in the Youtube description texts

Sascha Ende

July 25th, 2023

You got an email from youtube? Currently many users (yes, me too) receive an email with the content from this screenshot ⬇️. As far as I know, this seems to be a mistake, because neither the link nor the video is deleted. Also, the link to appeal leads to an error page. This email from Youtube also has no consequences for your channel. Youtube just really messed up again.

Unfortunately, I can not do much here, because there is just as little contact for me at Youtube as for most of the rest of humanity. And Youtube support is as helpful as a conversation with a chimpanzee in the zoo.

Summary:

1. Youtube does not delete the link
2. Youtube also does not delete your video
3. This email from Youtube seems to have no consequences at all
4. The link to the Standard license ( https://filmmusic.io/standard-... ) is neither a scam nor a fraud. Linking to the license used has been common practice on the Internet for many decades and is also required for Creative Commons licenses according to the license terms.

If there is a lawyer here who feels like helping me and suing Youtube for this nonsensical email - just write me. The insinuation that this link would lead to a fraudulent site is really an impertinence.

Anyway: For now I have removed the link to the license from the "copy and paste" texts.

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