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19 December 2018

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The Trouble with YouTube (and Alan Chan)

The Trouble with YouTube (and Alan Chan)

If you do a YouTube search for one of the pieces in the ABRSM syllabus, invariably, the first thing you will come across is a video by Alan Chan. That is not to say that his videos are better, but that he has a monopoly on YouTube in this niche, because he has been there one of the longest. Also, when a new syllabus comes out, he will publish the complete syllabus within a week or so, the speed of which cannot allow for any quality in performance. The result is that by"gaming the system", his videos appear first in search and the unsuspecting student will assume that this is how to play the piece, which is usually not the case. On the contrary, many times his performances would not even pass an exam.

To help students be more discerning, I recently uploaded a video about how NOT to play the Bartok Dance for Grade 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aziXKOHFMEg

It is clear from the video and sheet music attached (which in itself is of dubious copyright standing), that the articulation and tempo for this piece are completely wrong. However, I was shocked to find that subsequently ALAN CHAN then claimed copyright for this video, but within the terms of YouTube, he had marked his video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aziXKOHFMEg CREATIVE COMMONS - REUSE ALLOWED and my channel has received a copyright strike and the video was taken down on account of this. If he doesn't want his work copied it should be marked so. For those of you who SUPPORT QUALITY please go to the above video of his and leave your thoughts there.






Since then, Alan Chan has removed the "Creative Commons" attribution to his video, so I have deleted mine, even though there would be grounds on "fair use", because it is of educational value, in that I had added commentary to it, explaining why it would not be a good example to follow for a student preparing for an exam.

I have made a counterclaim to YouTube on the basis of what I have explained above, which now requires that he proves within 10 business days that he initiated legal proceedings regarding his copyright, or the claim and my "copyright strike" will be annulled. I don't fancy his chances if he decides to go down this route as YouTube automatically, took down my video while it was still under creative commons attribution, and I have since deleted it completely from the platform. I'll keep you posted.


I am grateful for the support of those who seek quality tuition, such as from the following 
https://www.music-online.org.uk/p/blog-page_6.html?showComment=1545035771689#c3677397447953853953 

Pot Calling the Kettle Black

Since the original post above there have come to light, numerous examples of the "Pot" calling the "Kettle" black, meaning that Alan Chan himself is quite happy to steal other people's content (NOT marked "Creative Commons) and pass it off as his own, without any mention of the original uploader. A few examples can be found in THIS POST and if you find anything else that contravenes someone else's copyright, please leave a comment below and we'll do our best to notify the rightful owner.

Update

The following short playlist will take you through the whole story, from original copyright claim, counter claim and YouTube's final verdict.


13 comments:

  1. As you clearly understood, the "Creative Commons" setting can be changed anytime. By re-uploading other's videos, you are always risking getting copyright strikes. Why don't you focus on producing your own quality videos rather than showing your childish behaviour to your competitors and the community?

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    Replies
    1. I take exception to your description of my behaviour as childish. And as for your comment about creating quality videos that is the whole reason why I made this video in the first place because the content available from Alan Chan is anything but quality and students watching his videos will be at a disadvantage. The video was about showing students how not to play in order to get a better Mark at exam level. Regarding the risk about creative Commons what you say is logical but in the past every single video on Alan Chan channel has been creative Commons since the very beginning and he filed this copyright claim while it was still creative Commons. He has subsequently changed it and I have photographic evidence of the fact which you have seen above. That is what I would call childish behaviour.

      Delete
  2. Hi Robert, how could you file a counter-claim while you already removed the video? Wouldn't the claim case be closed (as valid) as you remove it? And there would be no more chance to re-open and turn down the case.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The counter claim is a matter of principle. I have to remove the video, even if I was in the right, because Alan Chan has now removed the "Creative Commons Attribution". However, YouTube still has a "copyright Strike" against my channel. They still have a record of the original URL of the removed video, I'm not worried about re-instating my video, my concern is for my reputation and being in good standing with YouTube.

      Delete
    2. Additionally, YouTube took the video down before I physically removed it

      Delete
  3. The outcome of the copyright claim is final, in Alan Chan's favour. In particular, the fact that you have removed the alleged video means Alan can no longer retract his claim and you can no longer lodge a counter claim. Even you may argue that you have lodged a counter claim before your removal, as soon as you remove the video everything is settled as it is, again in Alan's favour. Let's stay with facts and stop fancying counter-claims anymore, and inform your loyal subscribers with facts, rather than fictitious counter-claim stories, to gain your residual respects. Your reputation has been ruined by your over-reaction to an otherwise trivial matter, especially to the rest of the community, and your strike record will unfortunately stay with you.

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    Replies
    1. Well the facts speak for themselves - the counterclaim WAS upheld by YouTube which deemed Alan Chan's initial claim as INVALID and FALSE

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  4. Maybe you should wait for the 10 business days to expire before you speak about things which you have no knowledge. As for reputation, it all depends on your opinion. I agree that some might find my actions trivial, and on the other hand I think there are many more who would agree that Alan Chan actions have been far less than a gentleman. Time will tell. And more importantly quality will prevail.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I find MUsicOnlineUK a reliable and good quality resource. I recommend these videos to my students as a reference, rather than the Alan Chan's videos. As his playing is quite poor and often lacking in dynamics, articulation with the tempos being either too fast or too slow.

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  6. I avoid Alan Chan's playing for many of the reasons stated above by 'Unknown 27 December 2018' and actively advise my students against the channel. I recommend Music Online along with other artists.

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  7. Any comments containing links will be removed. This is a place for open discussion, not self promotion.

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  8. Go Music Online UK! Alan Chan's videos are of bad quality and his actions taken were wrong.

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