Nosferatu and the Road to Demonetization

 

Yesterday I wrote about the Robert Eggers’ film Nosferatu (2024), as well as the previous two versions of that film—Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), and Nosferatu: A Symphony of Terror (1922). I’ve had Nosferatu on my mind a lot lately, as it was the 1922 film that recently triggered my YouTube channel becoming demonetized. Which is completely ridiculous, as that film is firmly in the public domain.

In fact, every film made from 1929 and before is automatically public domain according to copyright law in the United States. But don’t tell YouTube that; they make their own arbitrary rules on their platform, as evidenced by the latest copyright claim I received on a video on my channel there. It was an episode of my old TV show Chiller Cinema from 2000 that was a vampire-themed episode. That video has been posted on there for years, but just recently received this claim. At the end of that episode, I ran a clip from Nosferatu (1922) that ran about 5 minutes. It was a silent clip, with no music underneath it. I ran it to fill the runtime to 28:30 for broadcast length. It is a clip with no music from a public domain film. No problem… except that a company called Jazzee Blue Records decided to file a claim on my video.

I initially wasn’t too worried about it, as I figured it must have been an automated match. Once I appealed it the company would see that it was a mistake and drop the claim. I’ve had that happen from time to time on public domain movies. So, I appealed it, and Jazzee Blue quickly came back and denied the appeal, insisting they owned this clip. 

This in turn caused YouTube to demonetize my channel for three months. I still wasn’t too worried as YouTube offered the chance for me to appeal their decision in a video appeal. So, I sat down and shot a video a few days later from my home office talking about my videos, public domain films, my shooting process, and why this was a simple mistake. YouTube, in turn, denied my appeal the very next day.

I was shocked. This movie is 102 years old. It is undeniably in the public domain. No one can claim this movie. Yet, that’s exactly what happened, and YouTube was upholding this ridiculous claim. I did a search for Jazzee Blue Records, and the only company I can find under that name is a record label founded by musician Chris Rea. I’ve always been a fan of his music, so if that is the company responsible, that is doubly disappointing. And honestly, if I was using his music, I would totally understand, but this was a silent clip; therefore, there is no basis for this claim.

The funny thing about it is that the Chiller Cinema video in question hadn’t really even had that many views. I wasn’t appealing it because of loss of funds; it was more the principle of the thing. I am a big believer in the public domain and can’t stand to see people get away with abusing it. I posted a video about this situation after the fact to let my YouTube viewers know I’d be changing my approach to what I post over there. In that video I explained a common tactic that shady producers use on YouTube. They’ll often take a public domain film—like The Giant Gila Monster, for instance—and find a clip from it with music that doesn’t have any talking in it. They’ll pull the audio from that clip and publish it on a site like CD Baby, giving it a new title and calling it their own “song.” They’ll then go back to YouTube and file a copyright claim on every video using their new song. It’s a blatant and crass way to steal money from people legally using public domain material.

I’ve honestly given up on YouTube as far as public domain films go. When someone files a copyright claim on a video, YouTube automatically sides with the claimant. They aren’t made to provide proof or documentation that they own said material; YouTube simply takes them at face value. Once an appeal is filed, all the claimant has to do is come back and reconfirm that they own it. Again, no proof necessary, just their word. If the person receiving the strike wants to file a second appeal, they risk getting a channel strike. Three channel strikes and your channel is deleted, thus disincentivizing anyone from pursuing further. It’s just not worth the risk. It’s a broken system and one that YouTube has no interest in fixing. 

Therefore, I’m done posting videos on there with any public domain material. I’ll stick to videos I create myself or quick clips used in reviews of movies, and even then, I’ll probably use more still images to avoid this in the future. I also scrubbed through all of my old videos and removed a good number of them, including all of my Chiller Cinema episodes. I’m able to reapply for monetization in March. We’ll see if they approve me.

In the meantime, I hope Jazzee Blue Records isn’t the same Jazzee Blue that was founded by Chris Rea. Again, I’ve always been a fan of his. If it is the same company, then Chris, I hope you speak to your employees about this. It’s bully tactics and no way to treat fellow producers, and is, in fact, the road to hell.

Dr. Gangrene in Rue Morgue Halloween issue (on noosestands now)!

I picked up the new Rue Morgue Magazine last night, the Halloween issue, and they have a great plug for my YouTube Channel in there, specifically mentioning my ongoing Vincent Price series! Thanks Rue Morgue, you rock!


And you can check out myYouTube here:

http://www.youtube.com/drgangrene

Shout! Factory Shenanigans and YouTube

UPDATE: Since the time of this initial posting SHOUT! Factory has reviewed and released claim on the video in question. See my post here for full details.



This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post about SHOUT! FACTORY and THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE. This has been a hot topic here and on facebook, where I posted the article. Lots of people are angry and disappointed that SHOUT! FACTORY would continue pushing such a flimsy narrative as the fact they “own” this public domain film. That begs the question, why are they doing this?

It is very simple. Money. If you go to YouTube and type in “The Brain that Wouldn’t Die” you are presented with multiple pages of videos of that film – some feature the entire film, some just clips from it, some reviews. YouTube offers 22 videos per page – and there are hundreds of videos that can be “claimed” by a copyright holder. Some have views in the thousands (even hundreds of thousands).

Even if the monetary amount from any one video isn’t that much, multiply that by hundreds of videos and you see it quickly adds up. My fellow horror movie host Karlos Borloff in the DC area was mentioning this morning that he is having a similar issue, once again from our good friends at SHOUT! FACTORY. BUT it is with a totally different film – ATOM AGE VAMPIRE.

Who knows how many public domain films SHOUT! FACTORY is claiming “ownership” of on YouTube and monetizing.

The truth of the matter is that the blame for this lies with YouTube themselves, for allowing this to continue. They have a system in place where a person can claim to own a video and not have to show any proof. If it is questioned they merely continue to say they own it, and YouTube takes them on their word.

When I disputed the claim from SHOUT! FACTORY, here is the response I got back from YouTube:

Hi drgangrene,

After reviewing your dispute, Shout! Factory, LLC has decided that their copyright claim is still valid.

Video title: Dr. Gangrene's Creature Feature - The Brain that Wouldn't Die
Includes: Audiovisual content
Claimed by: Shout! Factory, LLC

SHOUT! FACTORY decided their claim is still valid!
Well of course they did! They’re not going to arbitrarily give up their easy money! How about you look at it yourselves YouTube, and make a determination, make them show proof of ownership – which doesn’t exist! -  before allowing them to make money off other people’s work!

It’s my hope that if enough people continue to expose YouTube’s shameful copyright system - as well as the shady practices of companies such as SHOUT! FACTORY - that something will eventually be done about this.

In the meantime here are the host bits – without the movie – for my hosting of THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE, for your enjoyment… at least until Shout! Factory decides to claim ownership of it, too.

The Brain that Wouldn't Die Fiasco

 * UPDATE - Since the time of this posting SHOUT! Factory has reviewed and released their claim. See the full update here.


I've been posting episodes of my CREATURE FEATURE TV series on YouTube lately, and last week decided to post the THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE episode. That one originally aired April 8, 2006 on Nashville's CW58 - almost 10 years ago to the day I type this. It was one we spent a little more time on than usual with set design, lighting, and skits. It turned out really well, and I looked forward to sharing it.

However, within fifteen minutes of posting this video on YouTube I received eight copyright claims against it. This will sound familiar to anyone who has dealt with YouTube lately. It is common practice for people to try and claim copyright on well-known public domain films such as THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE. They are bogus claims and are usually dropped once a dispute is placed. That wasn't the case this time, however.


For those not familiar with the process, the way it works is you post a video and if there are copyright claims against the video you receive email notification from YouTube informing you who is making the claim and against what element of your video (video, music, etc). From that point on the claimant is granted immediate rights to your video, meaning they can monetize it and make money off your video, block it in certain parts of the world, or even force it down immediately and give you a copyright strike.


Your only option at that point, if you feel the claim is unjustified, is to file a dispute. I did this, as seven of the claims were against music and clearly bogus claims from non-existent companies. One of the claims, however, was for the video itself, and came from SHOUT! FACTORY.

Now Shout! Factory is a well known video distribution company. They make great products, and I love their work. Their claim to own THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE, however, is complete and utter horseshit.


______________________________________________________________________________


THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE is a 1962 b-horror film directed by Joseph Green, written and produced by Rex Carlton. it's a wonderfully trashy mad-science flick about a doctor who keeps his wife's severed head alive in a tray while searching for a replacement body in the local strip clubs.


It is also clearly in the public domain.



On September 29th, 1988 Rex Carlton Productions filed for copyright renewal of this film - the case # is PA#399511. They cited 1959 as the year of production and October 31, 1962 as date of publication.  Their copyright was NOT renewed, meaning the film was now in the public domain.


Skip forward to August 26th, 1993. A company named BEST BRAINS INC. filed for copyright of this film, case # PA668-012. it was for Mystery Science Theater 3000 #513, THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE. Copyright was granted, but it extended ONLY TO NEW MATERIAL - i.e. host bits of MST and their running commentary.

This is important to remember because MST is now distributed by, you guessed it, SHOUT! FACTORY, the company that is claiming on YouTube to own the entire film THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE. They do not. I disputed this and within 24 hours was told that Shout! Factory reviewed my claim and decided they still own it. End of story.

Now my only recourse at this point is to file a formal appeal, but, here's the thing. It goes straight back to the claimant - Shout! Factory in this case - who simply says yes or no to owning it once again. There is no review process by YouTube, the claimant does not have to show proof of ownership, nothing. YouTube simply takes them on their word and upholds their case. I would at this point receive a copyright strike against my channel, meaning I lose rights to monetize any of the videos on my channel for 6 months. Any channel that receives three strikes is permanently removed!


So at this point there is nothing to do. I could just leave the video up and let Shout! Factory make money off my video, but it is the principal of the matter. they don't own this film. IT IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. They know fully well they don't own it. I did not use any elements from the Mystery Science Theater version of this film. I've never even seen the MST episode. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a fan of their show, never have been. I respect what they've accomplished, but I'm not a fan. My material is 100% my own. The movie footage I used was from a copyright free copy of the movie.

ALPHA VIDEO version

of The Brain that Wouldn't Die

SO, SHOUT! FACTORY, if you see this post, please respond. You can reach me through email drgangrene at hotmail.com. If you really think you own this film, then I would love to know on what basis...


You distributed the impressive 2015 blu-ray edition of the film, and certainly own that cleaned-up edition - and you distribute the 1993 MST version, and clearly own that as well. But neither of those make you copyright owner of this movie. It is 100% in the public domain. The Rex Carlton Production company - who shot the film - couldn't renew copyright on it, and neither can you.




I am going to find another place to post this entire episode for folks to enjoy. In the meantime, I'll post just my host bits on YouTube, unless Shout! Factory decides to block that too.


Here is a link to the film on archive.org for those wishing to see the movie in its entirety:
https://archive.org/details/TheBrainThatWouldntDie_300


Note it's filed under PUBLIC DOMAIN.

Dr. Gangrene's Recommended Movie of the Week turns 2

It was years ago today that I posted the very first Recommended Movie of the Week on Youtube. The Recommended Movie episodes were intended as a guide rather than a review. I wanted to use it as a space where I could say, "Here's a movie I like that I think you will too."

Looking back it doesn't seem possible two years have passed, but there it was on the date for the first RMOTW - 4-12-09. I didn't get as many of these posted as I'd have liked but it has been a fun side project when I'm not hip deep in production on more pressing projects.

Here is the full list of the RMOTW to date. There have been 33 episodes so far.
Maybe I can hit 50 before the year is over.

1. Trailer Park of Terror
2. Rock N Roll High School
3. Return of the Living Dead
4. Piranha
5. Do You Like Hitchcock
6. The Brain from Planet Arous
7. Slither
8. Creepshow
9. The Monster Club
10. Monster Kid Home Movies
11. Frankenstein (1931)
12. The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake
13. Night of the Living Dead
14. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
15. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
16. Young Frankenstein
17. Frogs
18. Santo and the Blue Demon vs. Dr. Frankenstein
19. Monsters Crash the Pajama Party
20. Flip
21. Phantasm
22. Trick or Treat
23. Tales from the Crypt
24. Creature from the Black Lagoon
25. Tarantula
26. Planet of the Apes (1968)
27. The Mark of Zorro
28. The Ripper
29. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
30. The Evil Dead Trilogy
31. The Blob (1958)
32. Blood Feast aka Night of 1000 Cats
33. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein


Director Cameron McCasland on set at Shackle Island

Free Giveaway contest stuff

i just posted a couple of videos on Youtube, both contest related. The first is the winners from the September Free giveaway contest, the Horror Hootenanny prize Pack...



And the second is the November free giveaway contest, the Italian Zombie Movie Prize Pack.
To enter, go to the Youtube page for the video and leave a comment. It's that simple. Good luck!!

July Free Giveaway - Fright Rags T-shirt

Hey Ghouls, just wanted to spread the word that we've kicked a new segment on the show, a free merchandise giveaway. I will be running ads on my TV show and youtube both, and picking a winner at the end of the month.

This month's freebie is a THEY LIVE T-shirt from Fright Rags.com. It's a really cool tshirt and is printed on both sides. Check the video below for details on entering.

We'll be doing this every month, so keep checking the youtube channel and the blog here for more details!