At the risk of being modded down along with you (hi Google fans!), I'll say that even though I have a much lower opinion of Google lately, I was still surprised by their actions in this case. I know that Google has never, ever cared about the individual, but this is surely an abuse of copyright far worse than what the record labels could ever dream of.
Still, I have to wonder if this is just the Youtube division of Google acting this way, and perhaps once the big heads at Google HQ get wind of what's going on (or more accurately, the PR department), they will intervene on Ms. Keating's behalf.
Then again, that would open the door for who knows how many other independent artists under Youtube's Draconian contract to go after them for the same deal.
And of course, I'm happy to see that Ms. Keating is getting some free publicity out of all of it. Even if she ultimately can't pursue Youtube for lost ad revenue, she still has the power to publish her works in other media.
Your parent was modded down for bringing nothing to the conversation. It might as well have read "lol google."
Unfortunately other similar media aren't as lucrative. Even if they pay as well, not being on YouTube creates an exposure problem. I hope there's some way to work this out, but to be honest, Google still seems to me like the least sleazy company to help you monetize your music, and that's not a compliment to Google.
> Google still seems to me like the least sleazy company to help you monetize your music
I don't know...even if you sign with the worst of the traditional record labels, once your contract is up the rights to monetize your own works revert back to you. With Youtube (so far) it seems that if you refuse to sign with them, they still claim the right to monetize your works even if you don't upload them yourself. They take away the artist's control over their own works without even a contract in place. That's extremely sleazy if you ask me.
Yeah, although Google and others were always willing to monetize your work without your knowledge or consent. To some degree that's how the internet works and it's not _entirely_ a bad thing, and a lot of it is not intentional (photograph a painting, share it on forum with banner ads.) But with Google, their change is now they're unwilling to give back without a contract.
