A Brief Word About Remix Sunday
Update! We’re back! Check out the new Remix Sundays – 133 and beyond!
For all of you who are wondering what has happened with Remix Sunday, let me offer a brief explanation:
Google, the IFPI & the RIAA have begun a campaign against all the music blogs hosted on blogger.com – especially high profile blogs, like Palms Out.
This first started a couple of months ago, but only hit Palms Out about a month ago.
Without warning, Google removed three old posts from the blog, and offered no explanation. They then followed by removing Remix Sunday 131, and 132- and offered a brief explanation. Keep in mind, there is no actual copyrighted content uploaded by Palms Out that is hosted on any of Google’s servers, only hyperlinks.
Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog infringes upon the copyrights of others. The URL(s) of the allegedly infringing post(s) may be found at the end of this message.
The DMCA is a United States copyright law that provides guidelines for online service provider liability in case of copyright infringement. We are in the process of removing from our servers the links that allegedly infringe upon the copyrights of others. If we did not do so, we would be subject to a claim of copyright infringement, regardless of its merits. See http://www.educause.edu/Browse/645?PARENT_ID=254 for more information about the DMCA, and see http://www.google.com/dmca.html for the process that Blogger requires in order to make a DMCA complaint.
Blogger can reinstate these posts upon receipt of a counter notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and 3) of the DMCA.
We are in the process of filing counter claims because we get permission to post the music on Palms Out, and we don’t believe we have done anything wrong, but unfortunately, Google is not playing by the rules. They only offer us the URL of the removed blog posts, they don’t tell us which link is causing the problem. This means that we cannot reference any content in our counterclaims.
Our only solution is to move the whole site to our own server. But we are all busy people, and there are many hurdles. As it stands right now, we are about 75% ready with a new site hosted at palmsout.net, but we are having a major problem importing all the past content.
Please bear with us, we are not dying, we are not over. We are only just getting started.
if any of you are wordpress experts and would like to lend a hand – please drop a line to palmsout@gmail.com
Oh and a word to Google: whatever happened to your slogan “Don’t Be Evil“? Why would you succumb to the disgusting tactics of the IFPI/RIAA? Especially when you have no legal obligation to remove a hyperlink? Any employees are more than welcome to offer an answer, no one has responded to our inquiries yet.
And for anyone else who is pissed off about this, complain! Write google emails, letters, write blog posts about this, do whatever you can to draw attention to this, and maybe we can reverse this process.
Love, Palms Out.
7:36 am on November 7th, 2008
I know it sucks that google is abiding by the DMCA, but they /will/ lose their safe harbor provisions if they don’t err on the side of caution. Hell they even took down things posted by the Mccain-Palin campaign because of claims. it sucks and I’m sorry you guys have to move because of it. But really you should be upset at the bogus DMCA claims and less at google
8:41 am on November 7th, 2008
Exact same thing happened to my Halloween Mix that I posted. I was going to leave it up for a week and take it down after the 31st BUT it was only up 2 or 3 days before Blogger took it down with the exact same email you got.
Definitely not an isolated incident. Been happening to a few other bloggers I’ve been talking to.
A lot of the DJ’s I know check this site regularly (and here I am again looking for remixes) and we’re not looking to bootleg CD’s out of the trunks of our car here – we’re just sharing good and exciting music with people. Thats what its all about.
8:43 am on November 7th, 2008
This whole thing is a shame. As you said: Don’t be Evil Google!
8:54 am on November 7th, 2008
has happened to me a few times now, the last 1 is making me think they are just randomly deleting posts because it was a post for clark able’s jack union release with SAMPLES thats all. they were also given to me from jon himself??
they say about the letters they receive going up on chilling effects, but may take several weeks…? well over a month and still nothing.
9:27 am on November 7th, 2008
The exact same thing happend to us, we even told Blogger Dada Life had actually ASKED us to put that specific mix up but Blogger ignored it and removed the post without any explanation.
11:27 am on November 7th, 2008
remix sunday is dope
has restored my faith
hope more are to come
11:38 am on November 7th, 2008
All of the Blogs abuse their priviledges, and you know it.
I mean, where do you get off on uploading a whole producers back cat for free download? How is that helping anybody? Apart from giving free music to the people who do not want to financially support the Artists involved, nobody.
You hide behind your ‘Blogger’ status, and make out you’re helping ‘Promote’ music. But the point you are missing is Music has to have a value, or it becomes throwaway, which is what it is becoming.
It is a very fine line between using a Blog to promote an Artist and blatantly bankrupting the whole music business, which unless the whole blog culture is overhauled is what will happen.
So, stop blaming Google and take a look in the mirror. You are guilty Palms Out, and you know it.
11:39 am on November 7th, 2008
Ditto, 2 post’s removed in 2 weeks. No real explanation, just the link to Chilling Effects who haven’t identified my case yet. Sweet.
Can Blogger get any better?
11:50 am on November 7th, 2008
eb-clectic sez: pls bear with me but what exatly is a hyperlink? can it be removed and how in the world can google just remove contents on your blog? im technically ignorant. however- f+++ google.
12:31 pm on November 7th, 2008
To “Anonymous…All of the Blogs abuse their priviledges, and you know it….”
If music has such a value then why do record companies and artists send us material to post and promote for free? Sure they’re not gonna make a heap of cash for giving shit away but it sure helps to get artist’s recognised, hence building a fanbase of people who will in turn buy material, go to concerts, etc.
If anything the people who rip torrents of entire back catalogues are more guilty of “blatantly bankrupting the whole music business” as you put it. But please feel free to prove me wrong and send me a link to a blog post with an entire back cat.
Oh, and how very brave of you to hide behind your anonymity to take a stab at the music blog’s which, obviously have no interest to you hence you not leaving a comment here. Oh wait…
2:22 pm on November 7th, 2008
They’re targeting no-profile blogs too.. They got my mix blog a couple weeks ago because I appearently sampled the wrong 32 bars somewhere.
2:43 pm on November 7th, 2008
One of my posts was deleted in the same manner. As with many of the above and yourselves; I had explicit permission from both the artist and the label.
It’s either at random or it could be because the different labels that represent one artist on different continents are filing their grievences with the RIAA and that’s what’s leading to these posts being removed.
2:45 pm on November 7th, 2008
I dj for thousands of people everyweek and the majority of people file lines to my dj booth asking for the same 40 songs on mtv rotation all night long. I play a few of them but then I play stuff that I get off of the blogs and break new artists nightly. These artists would never sell their music and would remain in obscurity for eternity if not for blogs and posts like remix Sunday. So if the artists are broke now they will not be any richer without these posts. So Mr anonymous kiss my A@%, Google is a sell out so stop using that S&*@ and Keep up the good work guys!
2:56 pm on November 7th, 2008
You guys have been a tremendous resource for me over the last year and a half, padding my collection with fresh new music I would otherwise not know about, I’m glad to hear you guys are backing up to the man and putting your foot down over this, keep em those tunes coming because I know I’ll be comin back every day, good luck!
3:28 pm on November 7th, 2008
Assuming you are correct that the MP3s were the issue (and not some art or text hosted by blogger), then this is not how the DMCA is supposed to work.
If anything, the copyright holders of the music could send infringement notices *to your web host* — not to the service you use to write *about* and link *to* the music.
Again, assuming you’re correct in what Google is doing, they should really have a system to filter out blatantly incorrect infringement notices. (Although, technically, they can just accept the bogus claims and force you to file a counterclaim — which will surely take too long to be processed.) By not being proactive in filtering out such [allegedly] faulty claims, they are risking a drop-off in the size of Blogger’s community and in public sentiment about the company.
I wish you guys the best. There are many great WordPress plugins and developers out there so I am confident that you guys can work this out. And you can do so much more in the way of features on a self-hosted WordPress account. It really would be a positive step if it works out.
5:37 pm on November 7th, 2008
The fact that google deleted the links but won’t tell you specifically what the complaint was about is not part of complying with the DMCA
it’s also a crime under the DMCA for someone to knowingly send a takedown notice over noninfringing material. But you can’t fight back unless you know which material it is!
and yeah, of course, palms out is a huge resource and an engine of the music scene. You guys help independent producers and djs incredibly. of course, I doubt that it is the independents that are behind this.. but sucks that google are being so shady about it. If they had told you what was up and given you a chance to rebut, that would even be something.
6:15 pm on November 7th, 2008
Keep doing what you do, Palms Out. This will blow over once these assholes finally realize that bloggers are a huge partner in the success of music artists.
6:28 pm on November 7th, 2008
VIVA LA PALMS OUT!
Remix Sunday is the best thing happening to the internet, and i owe the crew behind the whole blog, alot for all the music they have brought. They have given my life a whole other dimension, regarding music.
7:56 pm on November 7th, 2008
Hey Palms Out…
It happened to me too. TWICE in two fucking weeks. Once for (presumably) posting “Fizzy In My Mouth” after I interviewed Howie B, and yesterday for posting a WIDGET that EMI sent to me and a link to ‘Viva La Hova’ (which is hosted on Blogger). EMI sorted it out for me and IFPI apologized but the post was NOT put back up.
If you’re looking to move to WordPress… well I’ll just send you an email. I also have some info that will connect the dots on this whole thing a little more for you.
Labels: Don’t Be Evil.
8:33 pm on November 7th, 2008
Best of luck dealing with the nonsense, y’all. POS is the truth! Thanks for everything, and I’m sure I speak for lots of readers when I say don’t hesitate to hit me up for any kind of help I could possibly offer.
Cheers.
9:21 pm on November 7th, 2008
keep up the good work Palmsout crew, can’t wait to see your .com site, and we are supporting you over there in Tahiti !
10:37 pm on November 7th, 2008
Thanks for the explanation, I have been checking religiously and have been really missing Remix Sunday.
Palms Out Sounds is definitely one of my ‘go to’ blogs and I look forward to more content.
10:41 pm on November 7th, 2008
this is not your biggest problem. you need to get out of your shitty blog-house, hipster-rap, bedroom producer remix rut. this blog used to be fresh, but now all you try to do is cram shitty music down our throats. i respected you, but do you even enjoy the tracks you are posting now? this is a joke
2:43 am on November 8th, 2008
did any of the posts have kanye or prince on them? these are the ones whose legal teams seem to be able to spot a copyright breach from a thousand miles away. only happened to me once with the love lockdown but I’ve known it happen on other blogs and myspace a few times… c**nts.
12:06 pm on November 8th, 2008
hey vic, since you seem to be such an expert at what is fresh, please produce a fresh new track a week and submit please.
And Haldan/palms out cru, hang tight, sorry google has their heiny hairs in a bunch. WordPress baby!
4:51 pm on November 8th, 2008
I’ll give you a hand with the transfer if you need it. I’ve sent you an email
-Tim
6:21 pm on November 8th, 2008
Google sucks
10:18 pm on November 8th, 2008
remix sunday is a must!!!
12:15 am on November 9th, 2008
well said vic. udachi has no idea. the quality of palms out music is disgusting. i also used to respect you but i now look to other sources for inspiration.
you just need to know where to look.
stop trying to please the mainstream. you are making everyone dumb to sound
1:34 am on November 9th, 2008
I miss remix sunday
Hope you guys get yo shit together
Peace
10:06 am on November 9th, 2008
We’ve had the same problem with our blog aswell (for our radio show which all royalites are covered and payed for) its a shame really, we also had the same issues trying to find what posts/links are the “offending” material yet google dont respond to any mail of question, see you guys gone the same route as we are looking into of hosting our own site/servers but the hassle of it all is the problem, (all in time im thinking)
really hope for palmsout this doesnt cause to much issues as the blog is such a great place!
12:00 pm on November 9th, 2008
no excuses halden.. get that shit up and going. remix sunday is palms outs bread and butter
4:39 pm on November 9th, 2008
They blackmailed me too, with a "post removed warranty" mail,
funny: my blog's a "high rated piracy material source…" Yes of course,sure it is :)
I'll never know why/what audio link(s) they didn't allowed to post (but they still not disturbed/deleted the main files, who understands this?)
On the otherhand (still in topic)
I'm a big fan/user of RemixSunday & my Palms is Out too!
The Force Be With You guys, to rule the world with a .Com domain!
;) respect from hungary
10:54 pm on November 9th, 2008
bloghouse sundays used to be cute when the genre wasn’t being sucked dry by 300 blogs, but now it’s stale. 10 good remixes do not get produced every week.
5:25 pm on November 10th, 2008
Fuck Google, it is part of a much bigger plan…. check it out….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNofb-OlZyQ
5:58 pm on November 10th, 2008
And the same happened to my blog:http://www.elektricfunk.blogspot.com/
11:14 pm on November 10th, 2008
keep rockin palms out.
ill be here till the end.
viva la palm!
1:51 am on November 11th, 2008
Peace Palms out,
I feel your pain. Google, WordPress and Blogger have launched a serious campaign alongside the DMCA/RIAA… I used to have a blog of my own, featuring mixes Ive recorded in the last 9 years. I got hired by local commercial top 40 station Wild 949 to be an on-air DJ on their Saturday Night program, so I went ahead and posted mixes which included the majority of music provided to me by said radio station. Without warning, My blog was taken down and a DMCA order was issued against me for the use of music, even though these were live recorded sets that I did while working for the radio station. Just went in, took out my entire blog (this is wordpress, BTW)… Lost all my posts, all my playlists, links and so forth… Sucks that this is affecting everyone from the DJ’s to the bloggers and content providers. Fuck the bullshit, I hope yall come back strong on your own website.
-Alex (Audio1)
2:02 am on November 12th, 2008
This is really getting ridiculous. I know I download a lot illegally but it’s often the only way to discover new tracks and artists. And when I find a nice track I buy it on Beatport or another legal downloadsite. Anway blogs are helping producers and their tracks getting a lot more famous, just take Louis La Roch for example. And don’t worry, they make enough money by dj’ing.. more than enough!
(btw the same is happening for video streaming sites)
3:05 am on November 12th, 2008
I received the same DMCA notice a few weeks ago, got caught in the same bind, and have since been ignored by Google. So terribly frustrating. Best of luck to you guys – I’ll definitely follow to the new host.
4:40 am on November 12th, 2008
Remix Sunday got Chew fu air time on radio 1 frm kissy sell out – whos now got loads of signings an is makein it happen….
Maby you need to not post shit from laidback luke an that lot.. it’s easy to get there stuff thru beatport.. and most of its crap anyway…
7:51 am on November 12th, 2008
Time for wordpress
7:16 am on November 13th, 2008
I guess this is the price of succes.
Long live to Palms Out!!!
12:18 am on November 14th, 2008
TO THE GUY WHO SAID NO BLOGS PUT UP ENTIRE BACK CATALOGS…
Crookers via Penned Madness – http://www.pennedmadness.com/2008/11/get-learned-crookers.html
MSTRKRFT via Sundtrak (there are 3 parts, this is pt3)
http://www.sundtrak.com/2008/07/repost-mstrkrft-remixes-pt-3.html
http://hypem.com/go/track/585113
TRUTH IS, I work for an electronic label and I have no problem with blogs posting up REMIXES. Those tracks are usually hard to come by in the physical realm and really arent taking away much from the remixing artist who is payed an all-in flat fee usually to do the remix and gets no royalties from its sales. ORIGINAL SONGS should not be put up on blogs for download…especially of popular artists. we are facing that problem now and all the bloggers do is hide behind this bullshit mantra of "we are promoting your music and helping you sell records". All those blogs are doing is trying to get more hits than their competitors & are encouraging an easy and readily available free download of songs that should be for sale only. thats where the infringement comes in. Honestly I think Palms Out Sounds is great and not guilty of this….Penned Madness, Hot Biscuits, Indie Music Speaker are however bad examples of this
1:43 am on November 14th, 2008
I’m in agreement with you on the postings you referenced, however, I believe these postings are exceptions to the general rule. Posting entire back catalogs like that isn’t acceptable; that being said, it’s once in a blue moon that I come across gratuitous postings like those. You’re missing the point here; a simple e-mail to said bloggers regarding said posts would have them brought down. The issue with Google/Blogger is that fact that, instead of being civil about it, labels are immediately filing DMCA claims about them. They are completely justified in doing so, but this is the most extreme measure they can take short of actually filing suit. In other words, don’t act like you “don’t mind” – if you really “didn’t mind” you’d send an e-mail to advise said bloggers and ask them to amend the posts BEFORE going the DMCA route. The bigger issue here is that, while Google isn’t violating any of its own rules, it’s definitely not playing by the DMCA rules and apparently is only even referencing your “right” to a counterclaim in order to save face. I.E. they want to keep that “Google ideal” and not just admit that they will bend to DMCA claims and take the posts down immediately. If Google/Blogger was up front about the fact that they have a zero tolerance policy, instead of putting forth this ridiculous, illusory visage of “recourse” to save face, I personally would have a lot less of a problem with it.
I’m not sure what “electronica label” you work for, but those posts you referenced are absolutely exceptions to the rule, and the understood course of action is an e-mail requesting that the posts be amended. After said e-mail, if the blogger continues to abuse their posts, then DMCA recourse would make more sense. If, after that, you want to assert the fact that blogs are posting copyrighted material and have no right to, I say this – quit with the “chilling effects” crap and just file suit. Who exactly were you trying to preach to here?
4:43 pm on November 14th, 2008
under the DMCA’s safe harbor provisions, 17 U.S.C. § 512 (c)(1)(C) the claimant must provide the following information when they contact:
a) proof that they are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner
b) identification of all copyrighted works allegedly being infringed
c) identification of exactly which material and/or user is actually doing the infringing (and a URL or other such way of locating it)
d) A physical address or phone number and email address at which they can be contacted
e) a statement that the claimant feels the use of the copyrighted material is not authorized by the holder or the law
f) a statement that the information given in the notice is correct, under penalty of perjury
claims which do not include all of the above information are made in bad faith and are ILLEGAL.
continue demanding google provide the info
3:25 am on November 16th, 2008
Remix Sunday is truly amazing.
It would be such a shame if it were taken away. I need it.
And it’s being harassed for all the wrong reasons.
Good luck everybody.
3:30 pm on November 16th, 2008
Blog sites are doing no where nere as bad as record stores where as far as promo music. Blog sites are really giving you free music for free. If your from the old school meaning you went to a record store and bought vynil to play at your show, I think you will agree. Oldschool record stores would be sent a stack of promo records ment to be given away from the distributor. Then the record stores would turn them around and sell them…. some promo. The only people to profit from it was the record store. Not the artist. I love what your blog does keep it up!!!
9:48 pm on November 16th, 2008
This comment violates the DCMA and has been removed
4:22 am on November 17th, 2008
Yes I understand that those blogs I mentioned are "anomalies"…however please read and understand some of my objections to how the majority of blogs operate.
Should it be my responsibility or that of the label to have to find every blog posting up our artist's original works and tell them to take them down…absolutely not. The laws out there regarding this are relatively obvious and can be readily found. It is up to the blogger to determine which material he/she posts & I understand that bloggers are trying to express their shared love for music along with the readers however it should be done much more responsibly like…
Why is it that most blogs post music up in 320kbps instead of 192 or 128? If you are really trying to promote music then you should upload it in a lower-quality format and then those who like the song, should head to Beatport, Amazon, iTunes, etc and cop the record. But no, everybody and their mom is a fucking DJ and thinks that they since the advent of the internet, they do not need to purchase music anymore (physically or digitally) and they want everything in 320.
If i get a record in 320, I'm not going to Beatport or iTunes cuz Im not a fucking idiot… I already have the best version of the song. Trust me if blogs were posting up the original works of our label's works in 128, then I wouldnt have written this but the truth is they do not. I 100% condone embracing technology but ignoring copyright law is ridiculous and hiding behind BS excuses like "promotional use only" is like P2P file sharing companies saying "we had no idea 99% of our users were using this service to trade copyrighted material."
4:29 am on November 17th, 2008
btw for the "old school" reference. Record stores werent ever sent promos for resale by the distributors.
Those were radio/club/mixtape djs that were being serviced by the record labels and sold their used promos 2nd hand to the record stores for them to resell. Thats how they ended up there if your interested & yes I used to be one of those djs :)
7:40 am on November 17th, 2008
i agree with the anon above me that blogs shouldn’t be posting 320s of tracks, to a point. I think it’s fine IF the artist themselves has sent blogs their tracks/remixes. Originals- nothing wrong with it. The person who sent the track owns the rights to it, and has obviously given permission.
But what makes originals from unknown producers ok and not remixes? Because nobody knows who a lot of these guys are, and they’re not going to have any of the contacts needed to get permission to make a remix of a track. Also, a lot of producers start off doing just remixes, until they finally get an original done which they’re happy with (and trust me, that takes time).
So I agree that posting 320s of well known stuff is pretty dodgy, but (to use the term that’s been used over and over) to ‘promote’ people who don’t know the right people, I think it’s fine. I’m sure even big-name commercial DJs browse the blogs for a lot of stuff until labels send them promo cds.
And as for the “everyone and their mum is a dj” remark- yeah, it pisses me off too. But producer-djs get ahead by posting their trax and remixes on blogs, so they’re more than just a dj.
tl;dr- don’t post 320s on blogs unless the artist themself sent u the track.
8:51 am on November 20th, 2008
Keep posting 320k's. What use does a good dj have with low bitrate copies? Is that the best way to promote? Just dont do it for tracks you can buy online that are released. Artists & labels that care enough will ask you to take their stuff down if they dont want it up.
Let's be realistic here though, you're not going to be making money without promotion. Your 'lost' sales dont exist without the fanbase promo builds you. Oh and touring & playing shows is where the real money is.
Lastly.. HALDAN.. please try getting the quality back to where it used to be. I haven't been finding the bangers for my dj sets that I used to on here. Just deleting everything. Thanks though.
9:39 am on November 20th, 2008
dude, u can also post some ‘sundayz’ wiyhout posting it on board, all interested will know where to search zips :)
3:13 am on November 22nd, 2008
fuck that sheee
3:17 pm on November 24th, 2008
I was wondering where my flippin’ remix sunday went. Alls I know is people need to mind their own peas and just be happy someone is highlighting their music. So tired of the record company groan.
Palms Out is the ultimate F to the O for the creepos who are trying to control artistry.
Keep your message as outrageous as Gem!