So Warner Music isn't as petty as I thought it was. According to this story in Billboard, Warner didn't ask for YouTube to remove videos of the recent Led Zeppelin show from YouTube. Rather, it was a company called GrayZone, which has been authorized to issue takedown notices on behalf of Warner. In this case, GrayZone acted on presumption, and YouTube's automated system inaccurately attributed the notices to Warner.
This makes an interesting point: under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the copyright owner is responsible for policing each violation and requesting its takedown. (I'm not a lawyer, but the relevant section in the act seems to be: "The burden of providing written notice of design protection shall be on the owner of the design.") So it's not enough for Warner to say "remove all videos of any band signed to Warner" or even "remove all videos of Led Zeppelin's December 10 concert." Rather, they have to point out each copyrighted work individually. That's a lot of work, which is why they've apparently outsourced the job to GrayZone.
No word on whether YouTube will automatically restore the videos, but I think not--users probably will have to repost them. And of course it's still possible that another party--the show's promoters, the owner of the venue, the band, or its management, even Warner (for real this time)--might ask for them to be taken down. In the meantime, LiveLeak has a few videos (thanks to Wired's Listening Post and Salon's Machinist blogs for the tip).
As a longtime Led Zeppelin fan, I was excited to tune into last night's reunion show in London. Strangely, the show wasn't broadcast anywhere--not even on LedZeppelin.com. Surely somebody could have sold some advertising for such a popular event, and if the promoters objected, they could have donated the proceeds to the Ahmet Ertegun Educational Fund (where funds from ticket sales went).
Screenshot from a YouTube video of last night's Led Zeppelin reunion show. How long before it's taken down?
(Credit: YouTube)Fortunately, that's what YouTube is for. Unfortunately, as quickly as fans post their videos (taken on cellphones?) on YouTube, Warner Music Group asks for them to be taken down.
This is completely incomprehensible to me. The YouTube videos aren't competing against anything--there's no DVD or recording to satisfy the approximately 24.98 million of us who applied for tickets and didn't get them. And even if there were an official recording, these amateur YouTube clips would serve to whet our appetite for the real thing. And it's not like the band sucked--every review I've read so far has been surprisingly positive, with a few naysayers racing to point out the obvious. (Zeppelin? Playing long, downbeat blues rock songs? No way! I wonder if Johnny Rotten's heard.) So if there's actually going to be a tour, why not build excitement further by giving fans a few glimpses of what might be in store?
Zeppelin fans and curiosity seekers: head over to The Daily Swarm and check out the 2nd video on this page quickly, before Warner asks for it to be taken down. (I'd insert it myself, but if it's in fact a copyright infringement, I'm sure CNET won't approve.) If it's already gone when you get there, here's what you wanted to know: it's a suprisingly half-decent recording of "Stairway to Heaven," Jimmy Page is playing it like the original (he's dropped those annoying extra riffs you can hear on official live Zeppelin recordings like The Song Remains The Same), and Robert Plant did not ask "does anyone remember laughter?" Presumably, he figured out the answer on his own.
Relatedly, I enjoy reading Bob Lefsetz, even when I disagree with him, but today's post just seems like sour grapes. I was eight years old the last time Zeppelin came to town, yet they were just as much a part of my life in high school as they were in yours. So why shouldn't I get a chance to see them? If you don't like it, stay home. Please. That'll be one less guy yelling "down in front" through the whole show.
Like many other suburban American males who grew up in a certain era, I [hearted] Led Zeppelin. And while my ardor's diminished considerably since adolescence, they're one of very few bands I discovered decades ago that I still enjoy today. (In contrast, I can't believe I actually own a half dozen Doors LPs.)
So when Led Zeppelin announced a one-show reunion (with their original drummer's son on drums) to celebrate the life of Ahmet Ertegun, the Atlantic Records cofounder who signed them, I expected it'd be popular. But apparently the registration site for tickets got so much traffic, they've extended the deadline a week. 25 million individual registrations have been reported. For 18,000 tickets.
Of course, as a friend pointed out this morning, some of these requests are probably automated programs sent out by scalpers and other opportunists--the registration site does not have any CAPTCHA system to weed out robots from humans. (CAPTCHA systems display an image file with letters and ask you to type the letters. The acronym stands for "completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart.")
Even so, with that kind of demand, I think the odds of a full tour are pretty good. Registration's here. Good luck.
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