Claimant says: "
I have been a customer of Epidemic Sound (“Epidemic”) for some years now. I purchased many of their creator subscriptions (later, those subscriptions were called personal subscriptions) and uploaded many videos under the creator subscription license. The Music License for the Online Creator Subscription version 5 June 2017 (See Exhibit 1) granted “for the term of this Agreement and in perpetuity with respect to each Customer Production created during the term, the right upload and distribute any Customer Production containing any Music Piece on the Customer Channel(s), provided that the Customer Production is completed and uploaded on the Customer Channel(s) during the term of this Agreement.” The license also stated as follows: “For the sake of clarity, nothing in this Agreement shall be seen to prevent the Customer’s possibilities to monetize on Customer Productions that include Music Pieces on YouTube, provided that the Music Pieces are used in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and that the Customer is not in breach of any provisions hereunder.”
In the last months, Epidemic has been using the YouTube Content ID system to claim my videos including Epidemic’s music. I contacted Epidemic and they informed me that they had the right to monetize the videos because the videos were constituting the use of Epidemic’s music as “standalone files”. Such a use is prohibited by Epidemic’s legal documents.
I was very confused about what Epidemic means under the term “standalone files” and I am still confused about it. That is why I started researching their legal documents and communications in order to find out what they meant under “standalone files”.
Part of my confusion comes from the fact that Epidemic uses multiple terms (e.g., “Standalone Content”, “stand-alone files”, “stand-alone upload”, “stand-alone basis”, and “stand-alone use”) in the context of music tracks in videos.
The Music License for the Online Creator Subscription version 5 June 2017 (see Exhibit 1) includes only the following clause related to stand-alone files: “3.4 The Customer has no right to distribute, sell, license or in any way exploit the Music Pieces separately or in whole as stand-alone files.”
The Music License for the Online Creator Subscription (version 9 July 2019) includes the following clause: “3.3 You are not allowed to make available or in any other way exploit the Music Pieces for the purpose of making the Music Pieces (in whole or in part) available on a stand-alone basis (hence available without being synchronized with a Customer Production in accordance with the purposes of this Agreement), including without limitation that the Music Pieces may not be repackaged as for example audio samples, sound libraries, sound effects, or music beds.” The Music License for the Online Creator Subscription (version 9 July 2019) was available at https://www.epidemicsound.com/creator-subscription.
On the 28th of January 2020, Epidemic’s terms and conditions statement available at https://www.epidemicsound.com/policy/general-terms-and-conditions stated as follows: “Please also note that you are not allowed to upload or otherwise exploit the Content provided in the Service as stand-alone files (for example, uploading the track to any kind of distribution platform or otherwise distributing a track as a full-length (or shortened) file, on its own or with a just background picture and/or just the name of the artist/track).”
On the 28th of January 2020, Epidemic’s Personal Subscription Music License available at https://www.epidemicsound.com/policy/personal-subscription-music-license stated as follows: “You are not allowed to make available or in any other way exploit the Music Pieces on a standalone basis including without limitation that the Music Pieces may not be repackaged (in whole or in part) as for example audio samples, sound libraries, sound effects, or music beds, nor combined with a single still image or limited animation where the production is essentially tantamount to use of the Music Pieces on a standalone basis, meaning uses where complete or almost complete Music Pieces are used and where any accompanying visuals are of a subordinate importance. You can read more in the FAQ here.”
On the 28th of January 2020, the aforementioned FAQ available at https://support.epidemicsound.com/s/article/can-i-upload-epidemic-sound-music-as-a-stand-alone-file-on-my-channel stated as follows: “None of our licenses cover uploading videos with our music for the purpose of making it available as a listening only experience. The intended use of our music is to boost your stories by pairing it with your video productions, and not for the purpose of making it available on a stand-alone basis. A stand-alone upload is when a complete or almost complete track, is uploaded together with just a still image (e.g. of the name of the artist and track) or with an image with only a simple panning motion or other such limited animation, on its own or as part of a compilation video. Therefore, we reserve the right to monetize any videos on YouTube or other platforms constituting stand-alone use.”
The legal documents mentioned in the preceding four paragraphs can be found on the following pages of the Internet Archive WayBack Machine:
http://web.archive.org/web/20190615000000*/https://www.epidemicsound.com/creator-subscription
http://web.archive.org/web//www.epidemicsound.com/policy/personal-subscription-music-license
http://web.archive.org/web/20190701000000/https://www.epidemicsound.com/policy/general-terms-and-conditions
https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://support.epidemicsound.com/s/article/can-i-upload-epidemic-sound-music-as-a-stand-alone-file-on-my-channel
Below, you can find some of the definitions provided by Epidemic that use the term “standalone”.
On the 12th of September 2017, Epidemic sent an email to me that included the following definition of “standalone files”: “the track as a whole with just the name of the artist and track name.”
On the 9th of October 2017, Epidemic sent an email that included the following definition of “stand alone file”: “a video with just one song and a picture of some sort”.
On the 4th of November 2019, Epidemic sent to me an email containing the following sentence: “Let me clarify that adding a still image to a video consisting wholly of our material, which is intended for listening only, does not qualify as an audiovisual video production and falls under the definition of a stand-alone upload.
Bear in mind that a claim only means that you’re not able to monetise your video, and we will never take down your videos for using our music incorrectly.”
On the 5th of November 2019, Epidemics sent a message to me informing that:
“Our general terms for our service, which are accepted when using our Player, are very clear in regards to stand-alone uploads:
‘Please also note that you are not allowed to upload or otherwise exploit the Content provided in the Service as stand-alone files (for example, uploading the track to any kind of distribution platform or otherwise distributing a track as a full-length (or shortened) file, on its own or with a just background picture and/or just the name of the artist/track).’
Furthermore, the ‘Digital Productions’ are clearly defined as audiovisual productions, and simply adding a visualiser to our music does not qualify as an audiovisual production.”
In order to understand what meaning Epidemic attributes to the term “standalone”, my lawyer sent them an email on the 23rd of January 2020 asking Epidemic to provide a definition of what they “currently mean and always have meant under the term “standalone” in the context of YouTube videos”. Epidemic has not provided the requested definition yet.
I tried to dispute and appeal the monetizing claims made by Epidemic in relation to my videos, but many of my videos were taken down during the appeals. For example, the video available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqCXG9a2qi8 was taken down during the appeal. More information about it can be found on the following page of the Internet Archive WayBack Machine available at https://web.archive.org/web/20180103150133/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqCXG9a2qi8&gl=US&hl=en.
So far sixteen of my videos have been taken down by Epidemic. On the 20th of December 2019, I made counter-notifications covering all of them, but the content has neither been restored yet nor I am aware of Epidemic initiating legal actions against me. A list of links to those sixteen video can be found below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_dWK_4PmJ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4tvrXzcgRA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FUw3jRQ5TM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9iCB4yN4eQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hw2d47ncD4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nslczJ5-dM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYl4roAhHqQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJlA2zh-NBI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6uNiMyHPs4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOVcTO2T_qI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwgbQsEclb0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmtfhud4cUE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkrxvqGbqgk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqCXG9a2qi8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiHaRaZQO1s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25WZF9Kkcpc
As a direct result of the take down of the aforementioned sixteen videos, many of my other channels have been terminated by YouTube due to the following reason: “We'd like to inform you that your channel Live Better Media - Español has been terminated because we concluded that it was linked to a channel that was disabled for having three or more Copyright strikes.”
The above-mentioned sixteen videos were claimed and taken down based on allegations that they constituted standalone use, but I am still confused about what “standalone” means for Epidemic in the context of YouTube videos and I need to know this.
Using the YouTube dispute resolution system, I have just disputed the monetizing claims of two of my videos currently monetized by Epidemic. I included a message in the disputes stating that I have the rights to distribute and monetize in perpetuity the music licensed in the disputed videos. Epidemic needs to take actions regarding those disputes prior to Feb 28. I would like to ask Epidemic: (i) whether the disputed videos use their pieces of music on a stand-alone basis and, if so, why; and (ii) what was their definition of standalone in the context of YouTube videos when the following two videos were published:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOoqW4QBNbk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hyxoHVTyYY
For the benefit of both parties, hoping that we can finally resolve this dispute, I have decided to create this post to allow anyone to express their understanding of the meaning of “standalone files” related to music tracks in the context of videos. Comments coming from Epidemic’s customers about Epidemic’s understanding of the term “standalone files” will be especially valuable due the nature of the dispute.
I have experienced losses as a result of this dispute, but before discussing them further, I think it is important that both parties clarify the scope of the dispute well. In this complaint, I am not asking for money or other material assets. I am only asking for being provided with information clearly showing the basis on which my videos were taken down and/or subject to monetizing claims.
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