For the second time in a year, I’m in trouble with YouTube - and finding out just how closely the video-sharing service is now policed for any whiff of copyright infringement.
Last year I received a warning that a video I had uploaded of my family playing in the park featured copyrighted material in the form of a Cat Stevens song, used as a backing track.
In that case it was allowed to remain on the site, although advertising appeared alongside my video, as a result of an agreement between Google and the record labels on “monetising” music videos.
But now a video I uploaded at the weekend has been deleted - and I’ve received a stiff warning that my whole account could be closed down if I fail to behave myself.
This time the copyright issue involved not music, but football. I’d visited one of the big matches of the weekend - Brentford v Exeter City - and uploaded exactly 37 seconds of action.
It wasn’t exactly “Match of The Day” - one shot of the teams walking out, two attempts on goal by Brentford and a penalty miss. But I wasn’t trying to record match highlights - my aims was to try out a new mini high-definition camera.
I wanted to see what kind of pictures I could get out of the camera - and how they would look when uploaded as a large file to YouTube, which now offers an HD option.
I’d somehow forgotten that the Football League are policing YouTube closely - and also assumed that they were looking out for material grabbed from the television, not a few frames of video shot from the crowd.
It looks as though my camera doesn’t belong to me once I go through the turnstiles at a football ground. Maybe they should have the same signs that you get at cinemas, warning against the use of a video camera.
But here’s a funny thing. I uploaded another video to YouTube last week , featuring a live performance by Billy Bragg at a press conference. He was part of an event staged to demand better terms for musicians - from YouTube’s parent company, Google.
I’ve not received any warning notice about this video, and when I searched, I found plenty more material featuring Billy Bragg, much of it shot by fans. In one clip you can actually hear the songwriter asking people to sing nicely because they may well end up on YouTube.
So it seems there’s a simple message - it’s worth taking your video camera or mobile phone to a gig because the artists and their labels won’t really mind too much, whatever their views of YouTube. But if you’re going to a League Two football match, take my advice - leave your camera at home.
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