UPDATE: Videos from the convention are appearing on the DNC’s official channel. YouTube says that there was no copyright violation and that it was simply an incorrect error message that users saw on Tuesday night. Here’s their statement:
“After Tuesday’s live stream ended, YouTube briefly showed an incorrect error message on the page hosting the completed live stream instead of the standard “This event is complete” message. There was no copyright violation on the video and neither the live stream nor any of the channel’s videos were affected.”
YouTube has made a big deal out of the fact that they are one of the best places to go this year for campaign coverage. Whether that be behind-the-scenes videos, news reports, short features, debate coverage, or live streaming of the conventions – YouTube’s new Elections Hub has the American voters covered.
Well, except when things fail to go according to plan.
Viewers who attempted to access YouTube’s livestream of the Democratic National Convention late last night were unable to do so. Shortly after First Lady Michelle Obama completed her speech, the archived recording of the event went black.
Actually, here’s the message that users received:
This video contains content from WMG, SME, Associated Press (AP), UMG, Dow Jones, New York Times Digital, The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA), Warner Chappell, UMPG Publishing and EMI Music Publishing, one or more of whom have blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.
Blocked for copyright purposes. Say what?
So let me get this straight – YouTube is the “official livestream provider” for DNC, and the stream is blocked due to copyright issues?
YouTube told GigaOM that it wasn’t their fault.
“After tonight’s live stream ended, YouTube briefly showed an incorrect error message. Neither the live stream nor any of the channel’s videos were affected,” they said.
But many took to Twitter to lament the blocked video. Now, when you try to access the video it is marked as private. If this really isn’t a copyright problem and simply an error, it shouldn’t take those responsible very long to fix this and make the video public again.