Update: Anti-piracy Firm Cops to "Erroneous" Zeppelin YouTube Takedowns

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 13, 2007 - 8:42am.

Denver - Fan-captured videos from Monday's Led Zeppelin reunion concert at London's O2 Arena are being removed from YouTube and other video-sharing sites at the request of the band's management, Billboard reports.

The band's long-time label Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) does have a deal with YouTube to allow for posting of copyrighted material from Warner artists, but the label is making the takedown requests to users of YouTube and other services hosting the clips on behalf of the band.

IDG News service reported that the Zeppelin clips may be difficult for YouTube's digital fingerprinting filter to identify and block, as each clip is unique, and many feature poor sound and image quality.

Billboard further reports that it's expected a DVD of the concert, organized in memory of Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, will be released next year.

Update: Billboard updated its coverage on Wednesday to say that a third-party vendor called Grayzone "erroneously" sent the takedown notices to YouTube users, without authorization from either the band or Warner Music Group.

"Grayzone regrets that it erroneously issued takedown notices to YouTube regarding footage of Led Zeppelin's Dec. 10 concert," said company president Dorothy Sherman in a statement.

"The error is ours alone. We acted without authorization from the band or Warner Music Group. Unfortunately, an automated system mistakenly attributed the removal of the content to a copyright claim by Warner Music Group. That was inaccurate. We have informed YouTube of the error and we regret any inconvenience this may have caused."

It's unclear whether the clips of the concert that had been removed will be restored or not at this point, although the clip below remains available on Google Video.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/1v8av (Billboard)

http://snipurl.com/1v6gn (Billboard)

http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/12/12/zeppelin/index.php (IDG)

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9832596-7.html

http://snipurl.com/1v6he ("Stairway to Heaven" on Google Video)

http://www.grayzone.com

Published in DMW Daily, December 12, 2007

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Comments

yanking Zep clips

Submitted by el garee~ (not verified) on December 12, 2007 - 3:49pm.

Total rubbish. FU to Warner group. FU to big music mills and all their ilk, such as the RIAA in the us. Not even a Zep fan here but I wanted to see what all the hubub was about. The downloads and commentary from 'backpackerdave' weren't in HiDef but definitely conveyed the unusual high energy at O2 on Monday night. I disdained most of the previous and sloppy live videos, but really, these items cooked. JP not drunk for once. Surprising. But not a stupid nostalgia trip either. I'd take 'backpackerdave's real footage over most other 'legitimate' videos I've seen of the band. What is wrong with you? What? Shame on you Warner/'Atlantic' group, shame on you google group for selling out. And hey Zep... get with the times. Ahmet Etergan would be quite dismayed at your lack of vision. Rolling in his grave. Did he have some vision ... or what? Shame, shame, shame. g~ new orleans