Dear LoveCat Music Part 2

Doesn’t a decade fly? Ten short years. Ten years since I had to abandon my fledgling youtube channel – Goodbye MrCheapkills.

So why am I posting this? Surely you’re still not bitter Dave?

Well no, I’m not. In fact the only time I ever reflect on the events that caused me to abandon a channel as it was starting to take off was when a fake account would message me out of the blue to ask me to take my original posts about the issue down. Like this one:

Yes,  2017. Three years ago.

What about the stuff from 2010, what’s that all about? Well you’d need to have a look at the saga, and especially the comments from that time: Here’s all the relevant posts from that time

So why post now?

Because after a decade I’ve had another communication, this time from the man himself. Mr Randy Fischer everybody, the Big B himself, Ariel, Sarah, and Benny. Apparently the posts have upset his daughter, and times are tough.

Apparently I should “let bygones be bygones”. Randy, I have. I did. I posted a contemporaneous account of what happened at the time while you dicked me around from fake accounts, and then I got on with my life.

But since we’re apparently stuck in the past. Let’s rediscover what YouTube (YT) was like in 2010. It was a time when YT was under pressure to act on copyright infringement following a less than exemplary history (during which time it actively encouraged users to upload infringing content).

YT introduced a Copyright Strike system which was a 3 strikes and you’re out system. At the time the strikes did not expire and unless you had a lot of clout you couldn’t really do anything about it. So if your channel got strikes, it was in serious jeopardy.

As well as randomly finding infringing videos, YT introduced a content matching system that would detect if audio used in a video matched an entry in its database. From that match the copyright holder could decide what to do.

The content matching system wasn’t a nuke. It could also be used just to mute infringing content, or be used to take any revenue from advertising on that video. To be clear, for a channel to receive a Copyright Strike (the most serious infringement) THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER HAD TO REQUEST IT.

That’s what our Randy did. To over 600 videos. I don’t know how many channels received strikes, but over 600 videos were gone. Except for two. One appears to be a random video that may have been missed (hey, Randy nuke that shit!) and the other is from the actual content creator (i.e. ultimate copyright holder) whose video STILL encourages users to use his music and upload videos – ten years later (which will then get pulled by the YT content matching system I assume).

So here’s the situation, Randy:

Bygones are bygones. I don’t give a shit about LoveCatMusic, or Love Cat Music, or LoveCat Music, or LoveCatMusic.com. All the posts relating to Love Cat Music are a contemporaneous account of what happened at the time, are not libellous, and are not coming down.

I agree, these are tough times. And I think what’s happening is that you may be attempting to sanitise the history of LoveCatMusic to make you more attractive to clients. But perhaps after weeding out all the bits you can control you find that my decade old blog post suddenly creeps up the search engine ranks? I don’t know, I’m just, as President Trump would say, spitballing here. I haven’t even bothered to google you or your site to see if it’s any better than it was in 2010 because bygones really are bygones.

Randy, you said that your daughter read my posts and was upset and disturbed…. Erm, okay. Well, I guess that’s the price you pay for being a dick a decade ago. For creating fake accounts to try and gaslight me and others. For refusing to even confirm that you had the authority to nuke 600 videos. To take advantage of the YT copyright strike system to make a quick buck (the track had been used in the soundtrack of Super Troopers).

Yup, times are tough. Times were tough in 2010. You have no idea how tough. So here’s some friendly advice for you to move on with, so that YOU can let bygones be bygones. Perhaps even how to explain it to your daughter (if she actually exists).

1. Abandon the business you have tried to build up. Ditch Love Cat Music and recreate under a new name. Can I suggest Cat Love Music? (it’s pretty much what I had to do).
2. Teach your daughter that what you do on the internet is forever. That’s a good life lesson.
3. Explain to her that ten years ago you thought it was more important to be a dick than to consider what would happen to the 600 channels you served copyright strikes on.
4. Make sure she understands the importance of integrity, especially in NOT creating fake accounts instead of engaging legitimately.
5. Lastly and most importantly, ten years after the fact is generally not the time to get the resolution YOU want from the person you fucked over at the time.

And a final life lesson. Posting “Confidential” on a an unsolicited private message does not make is private, or confidential. So here’s the last round of comms from you:

The blogs stay. Don’t message me again. The water is under the bridge. The bygone is gone. Don’t be a dick.

(an open letter) Dear LoveCat Music….

[Update 29/04/2020 – due to someone not being able to let bygones be bygones, there has been an update to this post: Dear LoveCat Music Part 2]

Please stop posting under fake names. It’s getting tiresome.

But before we get in to that, I’ll do you the courtesy that you refuse me (and over 600 other YouTube users) by answering your straightforward question that you posed here. I do this with the understanding that you will reciprocate in answering my straightforward question that follows (and you’ve not answered so far).

LoveCat Music said/asked:

“David” – i’m confused. In your December 5 post youi said you don’t have a problem with the copyright holder not wanting their music used.

Your problem was with YouTube’s policies.

Now you’re singing a different tune. Can you just tell us if you got permission for all the music in all your videos? It’s a straightforward question.

And my answer:

I’ve not changed my tune at all.

My tune has never changed. If anything you’ve failed to grasp the point which I thought I’d made ad infinitum.

Music that I (and every other person that uses music on YouTube) use is tracked by YouTube’s content matching service. This automatically ascertains where and if the content can be used – what permissions have been granted by the copyright holder.

That’s why I don’t have any problem if a copyright holder does not want the track used – it won’t be accepted at all. However, normally if permission is removed then the audio is muted unless the copyright holder starts really throwing their weight around.

The problem is then that YouTube don’t actually act on queries regarding copyright, or counter claims.

Which brings me on to my question to you:

You claim to be the copyright holder, but so does Dieffe Sas. Dieffe Sas clearly gives permission for the track to be used, and yet you are giving out copyright notices left right and centre against those that have used it. Yet you do not have the Bubbles track on your YouTube channel LoveCatMusic, but Dieffe does….. So who is the actual copyright holder?

Y’see, here’s the thing. Three weeks ago there were about 900 or so vids using the track you claim copyright over. This week there are about 100, with the most prominent being on Dieffemusic.com’s channel. You don’t have it on your channel and you’ve totally evaded the question posed in the post Would the Real Copyright Holder Please Stand Up….

Which brings us on to this:

First you were posting as ‘isabelariel’ using randyfx@gmail.com as the email address from 68.175.125.226 – RoadRunner in NYC. As you already know, I posted that you were Ariel Isabel, the name behind info@lovecatmusic.com, although maybe you’re Benjamin S Frisch who’s also keen on the randyfx email adderss. Yet there was then a post from ‘sarah2singer’ from the exact same IP address (but different email address – btlcmusic@gmail.com)…. That was when I responded with my toptip of changing your IP if you intend to use fake accounts.

I thought that would have been the end of it to be honest. Or at least to the bullshit of fake accounts. You’d gotten what you wanted (the removal of videos) but no…… up you pop with a new fake username ‘patriciapoppins’ and this time a new IP 201.144.242.231 – and Mexican too! Kudos baby – how’s the weather?! Unfortunately your selection of email address let you down: randyfx@yahoo.com. Nice try though.

But honestly – creating three wordpress accounts? isabelariel.wordpress.com, skavoovy.wordpress.com, and now whywearehere.wordpress.com just to post comments? Why the need to hide, to pretend, to obfuscate?

If I was representing a client (or was the actual copyright holder) I wouldn’t spend my time flouncing around the internet posting under fake names. I’d simply state when I was appointed, in what capacity, and whose authority I superseded. It’s a fairly easy and straightforward process and generally accepted as good business practice.

I would never represent another entity if my online presence was a non-functioning shambles (loveacatmusic.com), I’d also ensure that when dealing with third parties I’d do it in a professional manner without hiding behind fake screen names or other nonsense. In short, if I was attempting to represent the best interests of my clients (as you claim to do so) and my company then I would actually ensure that it was for for their benefit, not turn people against them. Come to think of it…. do the people you represent know that this is how you work “for” them? Or is this something that they’ve asked you to do?

Incidentally: It seems that your channel has been getting some attention since your copyright operation, and interestingly the sentiments I’ve made are echoed by others:

Oh dear….(click to enlarge)

I don’t know if English is not your first language, but it seems that you either don’t fully read the posts I make, or miss the point each time. One thing’s for sure though – you’re pissing off a lot of people while “protecting” your client’s interests.

And no, none of those posts are by me (I don’t use fake accounts), nor have they been made by anyone that I’m aware of.

To my regular readers: Peas and loaves peeps. Peas and loaves.

To those at LoveCat Music – Merry Christmas.