RWB was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from a representative of the Web Sheriff today. (All the more pleasantly surprised because it was not asking me to delete anything.) It was in response to my post the other day, where I commented on the fact that some Bob Dylan related content has been disappearing from YouTube after requests to take it down were made by the same Web Sheriff (a firm which specializes in the protection of online copyrights, etc.). My presumption was that this was the beginning of the end — that soon YouTube would be bereft of anything other than official Bob Dylan content, and that perhaps other online venues would soon be stripped of unofficial live Dylan recordings and the like. I was personally surprised at the prospect, because it had seemed to me that Dylan’s profile has generally benefited from the enthusiasm of his unofficial online community, and that this was understood by those managing his business.

Well, as communicated to me (and I see that these same points have also been communicated via the Expecting Rain forum), the recent steps are not harbingers of a grand crackdown, but instead have two specific goals. To quote:

[T]he primary objective here is simply to protect the “Christmas In The Heart” charity album from excessive ripping and file-sharing etc and, in so doing, maximize the funds raised for Feeding America, Crisis and the World Food Programme – something that, again hopefully, most people will be more-than-happy to help with … .. in which regard and as you of course know, “Must Be Santa” has been designated as the official preview track for fans and bloggers to share / post / host etc and it would be greatly appreciated if you could continue to actively spread-the-word and raise awareness of the fund raising aspect of this release across the net / around the globe (again by using the preview track as well as the ‘donate’ widget available from bobdylan.com).

Secondly and as you have commented on YouTube clip removals, these have actually been very limited in nature and have simply been targeted at improving the, at times opaque, YT ranking system and so that – as now – on page 1 of a standard (ie. relevance) search, clips from the official channel / BobDylanTV are more prominently featured … .. previously, the official videos were, in effect, buried under an avalanche of unofficial, bootleg and pirated clips and the need for this modest re-alignment of the listings is something that people can hopefully understand (even if they – or you – do not all necessarily agree with it) … .. fyi, exciting new content shall be coming to the BobDylanTV channel shortly – including the special, official video for “Must Be Santa” – so that, in time, this shall become the best and easiest to access video-resource for Dylan fans worldwide … .. we’d simply ask for your patience – and that of your readers’ – during this process and would also state that such other changes as may be implemented would largely – and again simply – relate to the use of courtesy crediting when you use BD copyrights and trademarks etc (which, we hope you’ll agree, isn’t too much to ask in return).

[...]

On behalf of everyone involved with “Christmas In The Heart”, many thanks for your continued help in raising awareness and funds for these good causes and for promoting the official sites of Feeding America, Crisis and the World Food Programme.

So there you are. Add to my pleasant surprise the lack of cagey legalisms, and the spirit of goodwill. RWB is very happy to return it.

I should say, obviously, that I think that Bob Dylan and his record company have the right to defend copyrights in any (legal) way in which they choose, but I think it’s very wise indeed if a sledgehammer approach is not in fact being used, and the enthusiasm of the online fans is instead being built upon and augmented by more official content.

’Round here, we sure are looking forward to that Must Be Santa video.

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