10 Aug 2021

We are destroying our earth!

Who still does not want it to be true, just read this: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/

On my own matter:

Good news from Soundcloud

Four days ago I tried again to upload my “Fatty’s Landslide” mashup. After it was still blocked by upload filters, I opened a dispute with Soundcloud and they finally unblocked it. Thank you guys.

The possible reason why:

“Due to the copyright reform of May 31, 2021, since August 2021, YouTube, Facebook & Co must check user content for possible copyright violations before uploading it . They are obliged to do this by the new Copyright Service Provider Act (UrhDaG), which in turn implements the requirements of the EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive).

This directive became known mainly because of the protests against its Article 17, which provides for the introduction of upload filters (even though the term “upload filter” is not used at the political level).

However, the new law is not only one-sided in favor of rights holders. This is because the law also contains exceptions and procedures that protect users’ rights and prevent unauthorized blocking of uploads (so-called “systematic overblocking”).

These exceptions include so-called “pastiches.” The term “pastiche” or “pastiches” was previously hardly known, at least colloquially. With the copyright reform, however, it becomes particularly relevant, as it defines the rights of users somewhat more broadly than quotations, parodies and caricatures. However, the legislator has refrained from defining the term in the law.
In the explanatory memorandum to the law, however, the legislator shows that it generally understands the term more broadly, citing “remix, meme, GIF, mashup, fan art, fan fiction, cover or sampling” as examples of pastiches.

In the future, the courts will have to decide what ultimately qualifies as an “appropriate” pastiche. Therefore, caution should be exercised in the marginal areas, e.g., the adoption of foreign works in the commercial field or adoptions with barely noticeable changes.”

Source: Dr. Thomas Schwenke (https://datenschutz-generator.de/ratgeber-urheberrecht-uploadfilter/)

BUT

Bonn copyright professor Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider has advised the Bundestag as an expert (?) and is generally satisfied with the new law.

However, §9 UrhDaG states, among other things:
For user-generated content that contains less than half of a third-party work or several third-party works, it is presumed that their use is legally permitted under § 5 UrhDaG.

This means, conversely: If I merge tracks that contain more than half of a work by multiple third parties – which is the case with most of my mashups – their use is not allowed. Thanks for nothing. Unfortunately, the problem with publishing mashups hasn’t changed.

And Soundcloud is blocking again … (12 Jan 2022)