Hi,
Our app was denied approval because of...
"Reasons: Concerns about the rights of the songs. [Piracy]"
Our widget (or a link to our site) is currently being hosted by
numerous Warner Brothers and Koch Records recording artist web sites on
Myspace. We think this is the best evidence that actual copyright
holders do not have any issues with the Mixmonsta widget and
technology. Here are urls to a number of record-label-managed MySpace
artist sites that are showcasing the Mixmonsta widget, or a link to our
site.
(Styles P Video Mashup Contest headline)
http://www.myspace.com/stylesp
(Make an Unk Video DJ Mix headline)
http://www.myspace.com/djunkoompcamp
(Remix our Videos headline)
http://www.myspace.com/idiotpilot
(Mix Talib Kweli Videos on MixMonsta.com headline)
http://www.myspace.com/talibkweli
(Watch/Make Jessi Malay Remixes headline)
http://www.myspace.com/jessimalay
Beyond the evidence that record labels and artists don't think our
applications infringe on their copyrights, there are no copyright
issues with the Mixmonta Music Video Mixer for the following reasons:
1. The application never "saves" any video mashup or Video DJ remix.
And it never "saves" the original videos that were used to make those
mixes. When a user makes a video mashup, for example, all that is saved
is the script of actions that the user took to create the mashup. Those
actions basically amount to choosing which of the two videos appears on
the main screen at any moment, and which of the two audio tracks is
audible at any given moment. It's like jumping back and forth between
two channels on a television.
When a video mashup is replayed, we again stream the two original
videos through the player, and then replay the user's action script to
determine which video stream is displayed on the main screen at any
moment.
Making a video mashup does not physically alter either of the two
videos that were used in the mashup. It also does not create a new
video file that contains altered (mashed together) parts of the two
videos. The two videos used for the mashup are never physically
modified in any way.
2. Mixmonsta is not a video hosting site. We never "save" the
original videos used in mixes, or the mixes themselves. All we save is
the "script" of the user's actions that were taken to create a mashup
of Video DJ mix.
When a user watches a video or makes a video mix on the Mixmonsta
widget, the videos are streamed live directly to the widget. The videos
are never saved on, or stored on our servers.
If a host site removes a video that was used in a Mixmonsta mix,
that mix will no longer play or display - on the widget, on our site,
or anywhere else, because the "live" content that was accessed each
time to create the mix is no longer available.
3. Mixmonsta only lets users search for and access videos from sites
that are already guaranteeing that their content maintains all
copyright protections (via Audible Magic, etc.) - such as MySpace,
YouTube and Dailmotion.
4. Users cannot download, upload or save the videos that they watch or mash using the Mixmonsta player.
5. Users cannot "Send to Phone" any copyrighted video mix. The Send
to Phone button utilizes the Cellfish network, which also guarantees
copyright protection (via Audible Magic, etc.).
If you have concerns that YouTube and Dailymotion do not adequately
protect the rights of copyright holders for their videos, we can
resubmit the application so that it will only access and mix videos
that are hosted by MySpace.
We would appreciate any advice on how we go about requesting a
formal review of what our application is actually doing, and the
safeguards that are already built into it to prevent copyright
infringement.
Thanks for your help.