YouTube removes WWDC archive channel after Apple issues copyright notices

[midian182]

What just happened? If you think Apple might be grateful to a YouTuber who archived WWDC videos going back decades, you'd be wrong. YouTube has taken down the channel after Cupertino issued several copyright claims over the content.

The owner of Apple WWDC Videos, Brendan Shanks, tweeted that Apple had issued a number of takedown requests due to copyright infringement against his channel.

YouTube's Terms and Conditions state that any channel subject to just three copyright strikes is subject to termination, will have all its videos removed, and its owner can't create new channels.

Shanks tweeted that his channel contained hundreds of Worldwide Developer Conferences (WWDC) videos reaching as far back as the early 2000s. Shanks still has all the original files and descriptions, which he will be moving over to The Internet Archive, though this content will doubtlessly receive less exposure than if it were on YouTube.

I still have all the original files (and descriptions, which were a lot of work!), and I'll be moving things over to the @internetarchive. It'll take time though, and unfortunately videos get a lot less visibility when you're not on YT

— Brendan Shanks (@realmrpippy) November 4, 2022

The Apple Podcasts app allows users to access many of its events from years gone by, but the earliest is the iPhone launch from 2007, and it's not an extensive catalog.

The Verge notes that this isn't the first Apple-focused archive channel to receive copyright strikes from the iPhone maker. YouTube removed the EveryAppleVideo channel in 2016 for the same reason. It also brought down the Apple Archive website in 2020 via the numerous DMCA notices sent to creator Sam Henri Gold.

There has been a lot of debate over who's at fault in this situation. On the one side, people say that Shanks was doing a better job than Apple of preserving the company's history for tech fans to see. But the counter is that the content he's been uploading and earning money from is the property of Apple alone. Whether it's in the public interest or not, Cupertino is the one who decides whether someone can post its videos.

Whatever the rights or wrongs, shutting down a YouTube channel that preserves its history isn't going to be a good look for Apple.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/96575-youtube-removes-wwdc-archive-channel-after-apple-issues.html

 

[BadThad]

Wow, they were HARMLESS, Apply really sucks.

 

[R00sT3R]

Apple's extremely expensive and over staffed legal department looking to justify their existence in a quiet period.

 

[m4a4]

He was archiving it wrong.

 

[punctualturn]

Must say, Tim is as much of an @hole as Jobs was.

Only decent human being that ever passed by that company was The Woz.

 

[tellmewhy]

It's not a healthy reaction when a company doesn't allow someone who admires them (if they didn't admire the company they would have chosen to do something else) to have a small steady income by essentially doing for free a complimentary job that if they had done it themselves it would have cost them much more.

 

[JKnight]

Must say, Tim is as much of an @hole as Jobs was.

Only decent human being that ever passed by that company was The Woz.

Being an @hole is one of the prerequisite to becoming an Apple CEO.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

What a bunch losers. In what does this damage Apple's brand or constitute copyright theft that impinges on Apple's income. I hate big tech with a vengeance.

 

[kiwigraeme]

No nice BBQ shanks for Brendan - now - imagine trying to steal all the income from Apple . Get out and get an honest job Brendan - stop stealing Apples Income.

 

[Homerlovesbeer]

Just Upload the whole lot onto Rumble