Copyright Alliance spotlight on content theft of chaser footage

Dan Robinson

Dan Robinson

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This is a great article published recently by the Copyright Alliance that corroborates much of what I’ve been posting about here on other threads, further illustrating the magnitude of funds being siphoned from chaser footage by pirates and big tech platforms.

copyrightalliance.org

Creator Spotlight with Storm Chaser & Videographer Brandon Clement

The Copyright Alliance team had the opportunity to speak with storm chaser and videographer Brandon Clement to learn more about his exciting career and the immense amount of copyright infringement he’s had to deal with
copyrightalliance.org copyrightalliance.org
 
Reading that I ended up asking myself if it were me, would I keep bothering to try and make a living that way? Employing four people for takedowns and spending $80,000 a year to register content, just for channels to swipe it and make a killing doesn't seem worth it. And the social media companies definitely do not care, because they're getting revenue regardless.
 
My goodness that's a lot of resources to dedicate to the fight. I can certainly understand how upsetting it is to stumble upon someone else using your work to create income for themselves, especially when it's your living and how you pay your bills.

The problem is digital content can be copied infinitely and fighting that amount of theft is akin to stopping waves in the ocean. I'm sure he's done a cost/benefit analysis to justify employing four full-time people, but given his success there should be a point where he can evaluate his business model and create some direct lines for licensing, etc. instead of relying on the YT / Social Media route.

All of that work just sounds exhausting.
 
It’s a fixable problem that the chase community could likely eventually have an impact on if we cared enough collectively to put some pressure and make some noise about it. The big media/music/movie companies all have, for example they’re forced the platforms to develop automated systems that detect their content and monetize it whenever it is stolen. Given enough light shined on the problem, there could even be changes in the law that would make it easier to manage.
 
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Hate to sound negative, but I believe this is a losing battle. AI and smart abusers rule the content. I also not sure where the $80k registration fees come from? You can register groups of 750 images for $55.00 and video from a single event for the same price.
 
Videos can't be bulk registered like photos unfortunately. Add in the cost of paying someone to do all of them while you're on the road all the time and I can see how it could easily reach that level.

I've spent a couple thousand myself on registrations in the past 2 years, and I shoot a fraction of the amount Brandon does. Registration is another thing I think is a scam, it's only a roadblock for creators and a get-off-the-hook-without-consequences loophole for infringers. I can't afford to register everything, I can only do the best ones or others that start getting popular. Without the registration prior to the infringement, you can't get attorney's fees and court costs, which means no lawyer will take on the case unless you cover those yourself (and the actual damages likely won't be enough to cover them).

If Viacom, Disney and others can strongarm the social media platforms into paying their fair share, then chasers could as well if the collective will was there. We're actually gaining some momentum now with the publication of these type of articles. When it's just me and a few others being the only ones talking about it, we just get dismissed.
 
I like Brandon's work and live coverage. I would like to know more about his business model and success against copyright infringements. What return is he getting on spending $80k on registrations? What are the gains from filing 400k DMCA complaints? It seems like a lot of time, money and energy fighting a battle that is morphing in favor of the infringers.

I wonder what his success has been with the the CCB (Copyright Claims Board)? If he's winning the $30k limit on claims (up to 30 per year), then it would certainly be worth the effort. As I noted before, the secret to defeating these offenders is for multiple copyright holders to file individual CCB claims against them at the same time. The cost to defend the claims alone would be excellent punishment.
 
I can’t speak for Brandon, but the handful of copyright cases I’ve won have been enough to be worth the effort. Nowhere near covering even a fraction of the losses from the infringements, but enough to keep me in business. I would not have been able to afford updating some of my equipment without the infringement recovery income during the past 2 years.

Once you can get enough of your past work registered to where the newer big infringements are eligible for court costs and attorney’s fees, your position is pretty solid as far as willingness of attorneys to take those cases and win.
 
It would beneficial to chasers if there was a centralized website or private social media page devoted to reporting abuses and coordinating legal actions. I'm talking about chase-related infringements only. Trying to cover the entire photography spectrum would be distracting.
 
That's basically what Viral DRM is. I think they are maybe the biggest positive current-era development in storm chasing in terms of bringing a wide spectrum of chasers together and the impact they've had addressing this issue. Some big-gun legal firepower is on board with them too in a way I've never been able to get on my own.
 
Jamie H said:
Reading that I ended up asking myself if it were me, would I keep bothering to try and make a living that way? Employing four people for takedowns and spending $80,000 a year to register content, just for channels to swipe it and make a killing doesn't seem worth it. And the social media companies definitely do not care, because they're getting revenue regardless.
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It's not worth it and will always be a lost cause. Once you place something into the digital ether, regardless of the "watermark" which is quite passé at this point in history, it's up for grabs, be it "bitcoin crypto storm art" or generic weather video.

I respectfully disagree with the comment by Brandon Clement that AI is destroying journalism. AI is certainly is transforming how individuals such as Brandon Clement and others "make a living" on "weather video" and natural disasters whilst up against free high quality social media video, Storyful, etc, hence the obsession with "take downs" etc.

Just for fun, I pulled my long defunct personal and professional website, mammatus.com, and more specifically the video sales and copyright page up via the Wayback Machine Internet Archive. I just had to laugh because there I am, a then 20 year old entrepreneur weather type with my "copyright notices", etc. I don't recall ever having to do a "take down" in those days as weather video was far more niche, new and less competitive then. It was easier in the days of videotape sales to maintain copyright "control" if you will. In 2024, it's safe to say the gravy train on weather video content is over.

Blake


BLAKE WILLIAM NAFTEL
Artist, Comedy Writer, Meteorologist

616.643.7762
blakenaftel.com
threereelfilms.com
 

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My hat is certainly tipped to Brandon if he's making that kind of money (solely from chasing). I've calculated multiple income schemes involving social media and none of them add up to a substantial, comfortable, long term income. It's an unstable market which could collapse at any time. In addition, the risks of investing considerable time and funding into reaching (and more so, maintaining) monetization break points are quite difficult. It might be easy to have a few viral clips and reach a required level, but in the long run, platforms like YouTube know most contributors cannot maintain those numbers, or they move the goal posts after abusing your footage. I cannot imagine trying to make a living from posting images / clips now days and continually worrying about AI pirates while spoon feeding social media millionaires with my hard work. 🤮
 
Warren Faidley said:
My hat is certainly tipped to Brandon if he's making that kind of money (solely from chasing). I've calculated multiple income schemes involving social media and none of them add up to a substantial, comfortable, long term income. It's an unstable market which could collapse at any time. In addition, the risks of investing considerable time and funding into reaching (and more so, maintaining) monetization break points are quite difficult. It might be easy to have a few viral clips and reach a required level, but in the long run, platforms like YouTube know most contributors cannot maintain those numbers, or they move the goal posts after abusing your footage. I cannot imagine trying to make a living from posting images / clips now days and continually worrying about AI pirates while spoon feeding social media millionaires with my hard work. 🤮
Click to expand...
Money is and often can be as fleeting as the winds one pursues, in whatever professional endeavor. It all depends on how financially savvy one is in the long run, and, is also a key reason that "copyright takedowns" seem en vogue at present. Now shift to streamers by all platforms, legacy media, etc, and the hyper competitive atmosphere becomes more clouded. Yet for anyone who wants to truly make a "go" at anything in life professionally, I say do it! Dream big, start small, keep learning, grow and share. There is a balance of course, yet the lifestyle of a vehicular vagabond, while a romantic idea and occasional experience, is not for the faint of heart. 🥸

Blake


BLAKE WILLIAM NAFTEL
Artist, Comedy Writer, Meteorologist

616.643.7762
blakenaftel.com
threereelfilms.com
 
With all due respect guys, you're just wrong about how much money is being made on content. There is more being made now than ever before. It's just that right now, the social media corporations and pirates are the ones making it, not the chasers or photographers. I don't know what more evidence that needs to be posted to prove to you that this is true. The fact that even *with* all of the piracy, Brandon can afford to spend $80k a year on registrations alone and pay four employees should put that to rest.

Destin Sandlin of Smarter Every Day posted about this 9 years ago. It's been going on a long time. The issue isn't that there isn't money in content creation any more. It's that the majority of it is being stolen. With income inequality and corporate greed being such a hot topic in our day, it's puzzling to me that a component of that which impacts our community *directly* gets a pass.


Warren, you’re sitting on a gold mine of content and compelling stories from your career. It’s just a matter of getting that in a form of something that appeals to the masses. Try reaching out to some producers, I think even some big names would be interested in working with you on that. Of course it’s all up to you if you want to pursue it or not, just don’t let the myth that there is nothing to be made from it stop you.
 
Dan Robinson said:
With all due respect guys, you're just wrong about how much money is being made on content. There is more being made now than ever before. It's just that right now, the social media corporations and pirates are the ones making it, not the chasers or photographers. I don't know what more evidence that needs to be posted to prove to you that this is true. The fact that even *with* all of the piracy, Brandon can afford to spend $80k a year on registrations alone and pay four employees should put that to rest.

Destin Sandlin of Smarter Every Day posted about this 9 years ago. It's been going on a long time. The issue isn't that there isn't money in content creation any more. It's that the majority of it is being stolen. With income inequality and corporate greed being such a hot topic in our day, it's puzzling to me that a component of that which impacts our community *directly* gets a pass.


Warren, you’re sitting on a gold mine of content and compelling stories from your career. It’s just a matter of getting that in a form of something that appeals to the masses. Try reaching out to some producers, I think even some big names would be interested in working with you on that. Of course it’s all up to you if you want to pursue it or not, just don’t let the myth that there is nothing to be made from it stop you.
Click to expand...
With all due respect, Dan, "spending $80,000 a year" is not much in the grand scheme of a "media" business, big or small, nor is it difficult to amass that amount on multiple credit cards, "pay employees" and operate multiple LLC's while attempting to offset one's debts. That model has been around since 1999/2000 well before the hyper competitive stream or stringer "wars" of present day. Copyright pursuits and legal action has long been a part of the production and media process, but the issue has never gone away. Somebody is always going to want to piggy back of the success of others, often for free, and make money on it. It's the human condition! I am not arguing that it's not possible to tackle this problem in small efforts, it absolutely is and good for Brandon and others for attempting to do so.

Yes, agree with you re: more money is being made on "content" at present. "Content" being a term that has become ad nauseam. This is due to very little regulation or oversight outside of the tech companies that profit, along with most people not caring what happens to their video, images, etc. That will change, i.e. regulation, and already is. If one wants to dedicate their lives to fighting internet multimedia piracy, fine. To each their own. Good luck with that.

Blake


BLAKE WILLIAM NAFTEL
Artist, Comedy Writer, Meteorologist

616.643.7762
blakenaftel.com
threereelfilms.com
 
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