The War For Vidding
This was not an article I originally intended upon writing. The initial concept was something much more simple about why vidders vid tv series and movies, but that's not what is important right now. Not exactly.
If you're vidder, you already understand why. You've seen the allure of a character in a show or movie, the romance of your favorite ship, or an awesome plot line that you couldn't wait to delve into yourself. You already know these things, and if you love to watch vids, whether you vid yourself or not, you know them too. That's how I got into to vidding in the first place. I watched vids. It has always been one of the few places in my life where I truly can have a connection with something whether it's a heartbreaking character vid, a hysterical crack vid that brightens my day, or a romantic vid that warms my heart.
But that's not all that vidding has given me. It has also introduced me to new characters, new shows, new movies, new music, new everything. It has opened a world of creativity to me that never would have existed otherwise, and I know I can't be the only one.
The point is, we all know this. If you're on here, this site, you know exactly what brought you already. What you love. Who doesn't know this? The companies who go after copyright claims and give vidders strikes. The government who thinks taking control of the internet, and invading our personal lives and our privacy is a good idea. This is who doesn't get it. Who doesn't know.
They seem to have this idea that we're "stealing" from them and that we need to be stopped. Well, you know what? I got into Buffy the Vampire Slayer because of fanvids and I'll have you and them know that I paid several hundred dollars to own every season, all the comics (twice, because I have them in book form too), calendars, props, soundtracks, figurines, etc. You know what else? I have bought and plan on buying more stuff all because of fanvids. Not only for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but other shows, like American Horror Story, Smallville, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, One Tree Hill, Castle, Fringe, Once Upon a Time, and countless others. You know already who has profited from all my present and future purchases. The companies have, and all because of those little fan videos that they think have robbed them of their precious dollars.
They seem to think that fanvids are bad, wrong, illegal, but they profit from them everyday. We vidders don't make a dime, and we don't want to for our work, and it is work. Vidders devote hours upon hours on their videos for you, the people who watch. When we make a video, we don't expect a profit and the only reward we hope for is to have touched your life, to have effected you in some way, and that maybe, if we're lucky, you'll leave us a comment telling us just that. Yet, somehow, we're the "bad guys" and we need to be stopped. I don't think we're the ones who need to be stopped. Do you? I'd also like to mention there are even creators of certain shows (i.e. Julie Plec - The Vampire Diaries and Joss Whedon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, Avengers etc) are in support of fanvids. They take them for the compliment that they are and appreciate them and vidders for acknowledging their work. Which is exactly what we're doing.
This is where Youtube comes in. If you watch enough videos on Youtube, you have probably seen at some point the little buttons under view count. One will give you the artist name (and a link to their Youtube channel) and the other will give you the option to buy the song. This tells me, and it should tell you, two things. One, Youtube acknowledges the copyrighted content on their site. Two, there is an option available for the artist of the music used in a fanvid to monetarily be compensated for their song right there on the video itself without even having to search for it. Feels like free promotion doesn't it?
Tying in with that, a lot of people question using music in fanvids and the legality of it all since it is technically copyrighted material even if you own the album itself. To those people I ask this. How many of your favorite artists have you discovered because of favids? How often has this led to you buying their songs, their albums, maybe even going to their concerts or picking up their other merchandise? Probably a lot in most cases.
I would like to briefly bring up the case of Lana Del Ray. My mother had heard her music before ever seeing it on a fanvid. She loves surfing Amazon for music and had run across her album, however she passed on it because she didn't really care for her voice. A few weeks later, she saw a couple of fanvids featuring some of Lana's songs. My mom then fell in-love with the very voice she had first disliked and then preceded to purchase Lana Del Ray's album off of Amazon. Who profited from fanvids in this situation? The music artist. Why? Fanvids.
It is my personal opinion that if you are a true artist you would want your music to be heard and appreciated. If you are scummy enough to be angry and sue over a video that promoted your work in a creative way then you are not an artist. You are a bigot. A greedy bigot who cannot simply appreciate the compliment that was paid to you and reap in the rewards of the free unsolicited promotion, as well as the monetary benefit that it would most likely bring, and chooses instead to victimize someone who is most likely a fan of yours. A fan, who out of all the songs in the world, selected one of yours as the best one out there to represent an idea, a thought or an inspiration, to due it justice. A fan, who probably brought to you a whole host of new fans to purchase your albums and to love your work. Yet, this loyal dedicated fan, who never asked for any monetary gain, must be sued and forced to pay you, the artist, thousands of dollars for abusing your copyright. Because that, of course, is the proper response.
I don't know about you, but I, as a vidder and as a viewer, am tired of seeing an entire community punished for doing nothing more than showing appreciation for the work of others. I'm tired of living in the shadows, receiving strikes, with the fear of a potential lawsuit over my head. I am tired and angry that doing something I love, and that does not bring harm to the populace, warrants being constantly and consistently being attacked by the big corporates craving their dollars. Who are too stupid and too greedy to realize that what vidders do does far more good than harm.
What I propose is that we start and sign a petition to have an amendment made to the fair use law that will label fanvids as the legal free expression that it is. Forever giving vidders the freedom to practice their craft without the fear of persecution. I hope you agree with me. Because we should not have to fear persecution, not anymore. Quoting vidder, colorgirl22 (probably slightly out of context but it fits), we are a family. We don't share blood, but we all share a creative mind and an unusually high appreciation for tv shows and music. We look out for each other. We appreciate each other's work and are there for each other in our times of need. We are here to stay. Whether the corporations like it or not, we should be given the free creative licensing that we all deserve. Lets go make vidding legal.
If you're vidder, you already understand why. You've seen the allure of a character in a show or movie, the romance of your favorite ship, or an awesome plot line that you couldn't wait to delve into yourself. You already know these things, and if you love to watch vids, whether you vid yourself or not, you know them too. That's how I got into to vidding in the first place. I watched vids. It has always been one of the few places in my life where I truly can have a connection with something whether it's a heartbreaking character vid, a hysterical crack vid that brightens my day, or a romantic vid that warms my heart.
But that's not all that vidding has given me. It has also introduced me to new characters, new shows, new movies, new music, new everything. It has opened a world of creativity to me that never would have existed otherwise, and I know I can't be the only one.
The point is, we all know this. If you're on here, this site, you know exactly what brought you already. What you love. Who doesn't know this? The companies who go after copyright claims and give vidders strikes. The government who thinks taking control of the internet, and invading our personal lives and our privacy is a good idea. This is who doesn't get it. Who doesn't know.
They seem to have this idea that we're "stealing" from them and that we need to be stopped. Well, you know what? I got into Buffy the Vampire Slayer because of fanvids and I'll have you and them know that I paid several hundred dollars to own every season, all the comics (twice, because I have them in book form too), calendars, props, soundtracks, figurines, etc. You know what else? I have bought and plan on buying more stuff all because of fanvids. Not only for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but other shows, like American Horror Story, Smallville, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, One Tree Hill, Castle, Fringe, Once Upon a Time, and countless others. You know already who has profited from all my present and future purchases. The companies have, and all because of those little fan videos that they think have robbed them of their precious dollars.
They seem to think that fanvids are bad, wrong, illegal, but they profit from them everyday. We vidders don't make a dime, and we don't want to for our work, and it is work. Vidders devote hours upon hours on their videos for you, the people who watch. When we make a video, we don't expect a profit and the only reward we hope for is to have touched your life, to have effected you in some way, and that maybe, if we're lucky, you'll leave us a comment telling us just that. Yet, somehow, we're the "bad guys" and we need to be stopped. I don't think we're the ones who need to be stopped. Do you? I'd also like to mention there are even creators of certain shows (i.e. Julie Plec - The Vampire Diaries and Joss Whedon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, Avengers etc) are in support of fanvids. They take them for the compliment that they are and appreciate them and vidders for acknowledging their work. Which is exactly what we're doing.
This is where Youtube comes in. If you watch enough videos on Youtube, you have probably seen at some point the little buttons under view count. One will give you the artist name (and a link to their Youtube channel) and the other will give you the option to buy the song. This tells me, and it should tell you, two things. One, Youtube acknowledges the copyrighted content on their site. Two, there is an option available for the artist of the music used in a fanvid to monetarily be compensated for their song right there on the video itself without even having to search for it. Feels like free promotion doesn't it?
Tying in with that, a lot of people question using music in fanvids and the legality of it all since it is technically copyrighted material even if you own the album itself. To those people I ask this. How many of your favorite artists have you discovered because of favids? How often has this led to you buying their songs, their albums, maybe even going to their concerts or picking up their other merchandise? Probably a lot in most cases.
I would like to briefly bring up the case of Lana Del Ray. My mother had heard her music before ever seeing it on a fanvid. She loves surfing Amazon for music and had run across her album, however she passed on it because she didn't really care for her voice. A few weeks later, she saw a couple of fanvids featuring some of Lana's songs. My mom then fell in-love with the very voice she had first disliked and then preceded to purchase Lana Del Ray's album off of Amazon. Who profited from fanvids in this situation? The music artist. Why? Fanvids.
It is my personal opinion that if you are a true artist you would want your music to be heard and appreciated. If you are scummy enough to be angry and sue over a video that promoted your work in a creative way then you are not an artist. You are a bigot. A greedy bigot who cannot simply appreciate the compliment that was paid to you and reap in the rewards of the free unsolicited promotion, as well as the monetary benefit that it would most likely bring, and chooses instead to victimize someone who is most likely a fan of yours. A fan, who out of all the songs in the world, selected one of yours as the best one out there to represent an idea, a thought or an inspiration, to due it justice. A fan, who probably brought to you a whole host of new fans to purchase your albums and to love your work. Yet, this loyal dedicated fan, who never asked for any monetary gain, must be sued and forced to pay you, the artist, thousands of dollars for abusing your copyright. Because that, of course, is the proper response.
I don't know about you, but I, as a vidder and as a viewer, am tired of seeing an entire community punished for doing nothing more than showing appreciation for the work of others. I'm tired of living in the shadows, receiving strikes, with the fear of a potential lawsuit over my head. I am tired and angry that doing something I love, and that does not bring harm to the populace, warrants being constantly and consistently being attacked by the big corporates craving their dollars. Who are too stupid and too greedy to realize that what vidders do does far more good than harm.
What I propose is that we start and sign a petition to have an amendment made to the fair use law that will label fanvids as the legal free expression that it is. Forever giving vidders the freedom to practice their craft without the fear of persecution. I hope you agree with me. Because we should not have to fear persecution, not anymore. Quoting vidder, colorgirl22 (probably slightly out of context but it fits), we are a family. We don't share blood, but we all share a creative mind and an unusually high appreciation for tv shows and music. We look out for each other. We appreciate each other's work and are there for each other in our times of need. We are here to stay. Whether the corporations like it or not, we should be given the free creative licensing that we all deserve. Lets go make vidding legal.