Youtube Episode Takedowns

[Mister Jack 565]

Well, it's finally happened.  Hasbro has finally decided that they don't want episodes on youtube anymore, and are using a content ID system to automatically block season 2 episodes in the US.  They will probably try to do this with seasons 1 and 3 soon enough.  

 

So, if anyone has a good alternative site for watching episodes, one that updates promptly when new ones air, it would be appreciated.  And before anyone says anything, I don't get the HUB.  

[Jammo 986]

I hate to gloat... But after years of Canada having no Hulu, a crippled Netflix, MLP censored in 480p at 2am on our TV, so many sites blocking us just because we're across the border... Feels kind of empowering that MLP isn't blocked for us. Our day has come. Still sucks for Americans though.

Edited January 17, 2013 by Jammo

[Sky Warden 2,243]

Well, it's finally happened.  Hasbro has finally decided that they don't want episodes on youtube anymore, and are using a content ID system to automatically block season 2 episodes in the US.  They will probably try to do this with seasons 1 and 3 soon enough.  

 

So, if anyone has a good alternative site for watching episodes, one that updates promptly when new ones air, it would be appreciated.  And before anyone says anything, I don't get the HUB.  

That's what people say whenever the make something like movies, games, etc, and see how many free version available in the internet. Drink up me hearties yo ho~

 

Just kidding (Well, a little serious actually). I won't suggest piracy, but well, there are so many people who wants to watch it and share it, and it will be very hard to stop them since many of them are experts, so don't worry . I don't have HUB in my country as well, but even though they really do success keeping their awesome product from pirates, I don't mind it. I still have this awesome forum and the most important, this awesome fandom. I doubt it though.

 

I don't mind to pay actually. I love this show and I completely understand that paying will keeps this awesome show exists.

[Vicke 3,187]

I really don't mind it that much. There are so many more sites with episodes so stopping it is in fact impossible. 

We also have the piratebay.

[PonyEcho 1,610]

meh i don't mind..... they have always done that, and they should.

ther'll always be places that will stream MLP....we still have live streams , or you could just go to itunes.

 

also some mlp streamers on you tube are smart so there will always be episodes on youtube

Edited January 17, 2013 by PonyEcho

[khaine21x3 789]

Just go to any streaming sites based on china, russia or africa and it should have all the content you're looking for since copyright laws aren't enforced in those countries.

[rjrgmc28 130]

As mentioned before in one of the previous posts, while I'm not surprised about Hasbro going down this path, the real losers out of this will be the fans overseas who often rely on YouTube to get new episodes if the video blocks become a worldwide matter later on. 

 

Most of these fans don't have a legal option to view the show at all, or the local broadcaster treats the show with discontent by either producing poor quality official dubs or as in the case of Boomerang airing the show in Australia, playing random episodes of season 1 over and over again with poor picture and sound quality (plus PAL speedup) while the only Pay TV operator in the country that carries the channel charges $160 per month for the privilege.

 

The copyright system in general needs to be reformed or thrown in the bin and rewritten again to cater for a new world of digital distribution.

 

I would like to see something like Hasbro actually setting up a website like one of the out of market sports services (e.g. NHL Gamecenter LIVE or NBL.tv here in Australia) that allows the episodes new and classic to be streamed on a per episode or season pass payment basis. This would also include live legal streaming of new episodes with the social interaction functions (e.g Facebook, Twitter etc) also included in the price. I would certainly pay for a legal streaming option to catch new episodes direct from the US if such a service existed.

 

But sadly those proposed methods are a pipe dream due to broken copyright laws plus things like regional broadcast agreements, exclusivity rights, region lockouts and price gouging being implemented in a digital world.  

[Bucky McGillyCuddy 956]

I don't care who says what, if it doesn't air in my country i will download it with a smile. I can't stand the fact all these good american tv shows never make it to Australia and when they do it's a season or two behind. Besides i usually buy anything Ive downloaded when its released.

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

Nope, I don't watch it on Youtube anyways, so I'm golden.  The taking down of videos is something they should be able to do, and as it doesn't effect me, I'm ok with it.

[K3WRO 79]

This sucks, where will I watch all the new episodes!? I live on the other side of the globe Dammit.

 

Stupid copyright, and international borders

[dekutree64 711]

The copyright system in general needs to be reformed or thrown in the bin and rewritten again to cater for a new world of digital distribution.

Yep. One of these days some TV production company is going to realize that if they just put their show on youtube themselves, they'll make a fortune in ad money, and get a whole lot more viewers.

 

Actually, Hasbro/Hub's leniency toward youtube was a big part of my getting into the show. Even though my family pays a fortune for cable, we don't have enough rooms in the house to devote one to a shared TV, so it's still a pain for me to bother someone who has a digital cable box to record it. Plus much more convenient having them all as individual files on the computer rather than having to swap DVDs around.

 

I also wouldn't mind buying on itunes, but the prices are pretty extreme... already almost $200 if you want the full series. Although if S4 is totally blocked, I can look at it as paying some money for the new episode, and some for the old ones I youtubed But it's still bad for growing the fanbase, since there's no way most people could afford the whole thing.

[Leafeon 2,701]

Yea, Canadian. So doesn't affect me. I feel bad for you Americans, but it feels kind of nice honestly. Hopefully this doesn't continue.

[Harmonic Revelations 8,833]

I'm fine, I downloaded the entire series so far from Mediafire last night, it kept me up pretty late but it was worth it, honestly. 

[Twinhead B 482]

Hasbro is acting a little strange lately are they not?

 

It doesn't make much sense to allow posting the show to YouTube for 2 whole years before suddenly removing the show. If piracy was the issue, they should've stopped it in the beginning, rather than wait until every torrent site and their mother had the first 2 1/2 seasons available for download..

 

At the end of the day, it doesn't bother me. I watch episodes on the HUB's channel when they air.

[Batbrony 15,994]

Guess we'll just have to see if it takes this time, because honestly, this isn't the first time they've tried to take down YouTube episodes.  Now, it certainly seems like they're being more serious about it this time, but still, I checked YouTube after reading this post, and there's still plenty of available Season 2 episodes, so I just don't know if they'll even be able to take them all down.  Like I said, we'll just have to wait and see how serious Hasbro is about it this time.

[Lo23 31]

They just could be covering the legal grounds of posting their copyright content. But I agree with everyone that copyright needs a major overhaul and is currently broken with the huge amount of information that is added to the net every minute. It was convient for me to get into the series because of youtube.

 

I just hope this won't get them into taking down PMV, fan-made, and other pony related content due to iffy copyright claims or possible DMCA takedown abuse.

[Freewave 1,145]

Hasbro is acting a little strange lately are they not?

 

It doesn't make much sense to allow posting the show to YouTube for 2 whole years before suddenly removing the show. If piracy was the issue, they should've stopped it in the beginning, rather than wait until every torrent site and their mother had the first 2 1/2 seasons available for download..

 

At the end of the day, it doesn't bother me. I watch episodes on the HUB's channel when they air.

 

They've been doing takedown for most of this last year (including the site that used to post full eps), it's just that they haven't been able to keep up with theuploads so they appear to always be available. Now they have an id system to do the work for them (as do many prof musicians). I make a lot of pmv's from the eps and several of my vids got notices that they matched third party content which i ackowledged that they did. Hopefully they will stay. USUALLY what this means is you acknowledge that this is sourced from somehwre else and it links TO that product and they won't actually take it down. I saw a pony song (Flutterstep) that was sourced off a Skrillex track (mlp samples were added to it) and then they had an ad in the description to take you to the itunes download OF that track. So they can finally see it as not something ripping them off but as free advertizing.

 

Full eps will likely be taken down as they are the whole enchilada and bypass itunes them selling them. As stated you can still get them via torrent at least. Again if Hasbro really start going after trademarks (vocal samples, character image use, pmv's) they can legally do so but can also really create an uproar and a backlash for their fanbase.

[hawkflame 3,308]

I'm guessing that this is the reason why they're taking down Youtube episodes:

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/HasbroEpisodes

 

$1.99 per episode doesn't sound unreasonable, but $37.99 for a season package, especially when they're not uploading the episodes in order?  It's cheaper to buy the DVD box set.

[Twinhead B 482]

They've been doing takedown for most of this last year (including the site that used to post full eps), it's just that they haven't been able to keep up with theuploads so they appear to always be available. Now they have an id system to do the work for them (as do many prof musicians). I make a lot of pmv's from the eps and several of my vids got notices that they matched third party content which i ackowledged that they did. Hopefully they will stay. USUALLY what this means is you acknowledge that this is sourced from somehwre else and it links TO that product and they won't actually take it down. I saw a pony song (Flutterstep) that was sourced off a Skrillex track (mlp samples were added to it) and then they had an ad in the description to take you to the itunes download OF that track. So they can finally see it as not something ripping them off but as free advertizing.

 

Full eps will likely be taken down as they are the whole enchilada and bypass itunes them selling them. As stated you can still get them via torrent at least. Again if Hasbro really start going after trademarks (vocal samples, character image use, pmv's) they can legally do so but can also really create an uproar and a backlash for their fanbase.

 

Even still, they were initially okay with full-episode uploads on YouTube. If memory serves, the initial takedowns were only full episodes that were 1080p, which I can understand as it defeats the purpose of iTunes downloads. It just doesn't make sense to go from perfectly fine with it, to completely against it and not expect the fanbase to kick and scream (metaphorically).

 

I just don't understand where their heads are at (if I had to guess; bloodied and dismembered on the floor as their bodies run around like crazy). Alicorn Twilight, Axed Derpy rumors, episode takedowns...What happened to the Hasbro that loved the bronies? It seems to me like they're trying to alienate and eliminate us (despite the brony community probably being 45% of their toy and merchandise sales at this point).

[Kamil 315]

$2 per episode is a bit more than I would like to pay. I really don't see any reason why they don't just put it on Hulu or something, YouTube has pretty low payout relative to the number of views, though admittedly they also give a lot of views, Hulu on the other hand puts in basically just as many ads as live broadcast so unless Hasbro has some kind of exclusivity agreement with the Hub they would make a lot more money than just those individuals who are willing to pay more than $100 when starting from the beginning.

 

On the other hand, if specifically removing only Season 2 was an attempt to allow people to get into the show before requiring any payment then that makes some kind of sense. I still wouldn't want to pay $50 just to get through the second season, but if they're already hooked it makes some sense to charge more.

 

Actually, I thought of a way to make a lot of money off YouTube: Skip the regular ads, just put them as part of the video itself (basically upload the entire 30 minutes that aired with commercial breaks intact, rather than just the content) and then have the advertisers pay based on views. It's allowed and I think there's even a specific way to do that straight through YouTube.

[Antismurf9001 1,271]

I understand that Hasbro legally has the right to do this, but it still saddens me.  Had it not been for the entire series being on Youtube, I would not be here today.  Anyways, hopefully they limit it to just the actual episodes.  Any further and things could begin to get ugly.

[Nim 28]

I find this awfully unfair. That's usually where I go to watch episodes, and now that Hasbro is blocking them I don't really know a place I can go to watch it.

[Harlequin 17]

Hmm.

 

While I imagine this is within Hasbro's legal right--

--I don't exactly think that this is in My Little Pony's / Hasbro's best interest.  When I was just starting out/getting into the show, the main reason I watched it was because it was convenient and high-quality on youtube; if I'd had to download from sketch torrent sites (or, Celestia forbid, pay two bucks on the Apple store), I probably wouldn't have considered it "worth it," and never would've gotten into the show!

 

That said - I'm "alright" with managing without ponies for a bit until they release the full season (as long as there's Saturday morning streaming still, of course).  I just hope they don't decide to take down fan works, songs, or PMV's (like they did with the assorted parody series) - if they started to actively antagonize fanworks, we'll likely stop getting awesome pony songs in the first place...

[mycarhasaMoustache 449]

I live in England and Im not sure if mlp even airs over here my tv hasn't been plugged in for about 2 years If the episodes are not available on youtube then you must find an alternative, You dont have to pirate the episodes just use Itunes or something and buy them to keep the Hasbro at bay.   But on a serious note its not exactly fair since most people can watch them on tv for free. 

[khaine21x3 789]

Corporate greed eventually kills everything, I totally saw this coming and it's just a matter of time before they do the same to devianart.