Van Halen 1984 Documentary

alancberry: Thanks to Diamond David Lee Roth, my videos are back up.

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…and shortly thereafter they were gone again.

Van Halen whack-a-mole

alancberry: This story gets crazier and crazier. Yesterday went from an extreme high back to down to almost square one. I can’t wait to fill you all in. But for now, I have to zip it back up.

Thanks Alan,can’t wait to hear the story and maybe know why it was always so complicated to get something out of the V-H claws.

So what was the outcome ?
Did Al not want any more episodes shown then Dave uploaded them only to have the VH camp take them back down ?

I posted this over in the Steve Hoffman forum, but I thought maybe I should post this here too. Some great fans here.

Here goes..lol…I love this fuking forum cuz you all are truly who I make my videos for, fans of music. We may disagree on things, but we all love the music.

I know it fu&&ing sucks that I have to post the videos without VH music. But at this point, it’s either that or not “officially” releasing them at all. I HATE docs that use cheeseball stock music. So, I use stock music as little as possible in my new edits. But in some parts, I need something; otherwise, it just sounds awkward. But I also do some creative ways to use other known bands’ music. (You’ll see what I mean when you watch it.) It’s not better than the real thing, but it’s not horrible. (Or I have delusionally made myself think it’s okay.)

I’m using zero VH officially released music except where I can legitimately use Fair Use. The challenge with Fair Use is you only know if it’s Fair Use once a judge decides. (Yes, I’ve checked with a lawyer.) I could use Fair Use 100% as intended, and WB could still sue me, and it will only be decided once a judge decides. Using a bootleg for the music bed is still copyright infringement. VH may not own the bootleg, but they always own the song. This is why using cover versions is out of the question too.
I’m blurring out videos I know 100% VH owns to play it safe. IE Jump and Pamana videos. I use other VH videos where ownership is a little greyer. Why not replace the videos instead of being lazy and just blurring them out? In some cases, I have replaced them; in others, I have gotten lazy because I need to finish this.

So why didn’t you drop all episodes at the same time? Initially, that was the plan. But then I thought, what if, by chance, VH did have an issue with my videos? They could have copyrighted struck my channel out of existence. (It only takes 3) This is why I was dribbling them out.

To everyone that has said, why not just use Dropbox or Rumble or whatever…As others have pointed out…Now I’m distributing copyrighted material for which I received a cease and desist notice. I am opening myself to an absolute legal nightmare. But 20 people, or more, have the entire series exactly how I intend them to be. I had a circle of trusted VH insiders and buddies I shared copies with for their feedback. Plus, other people that I interviewed who I shared them with as well. TBH, I’m surprised none of those copies have leaked, or maybe they have, and I just don’t know it. I guess at some point, you will see a torrent or a trader with the full versions of all the episodes. But let me be clear I will have zero to do with that. If someone else leaks my videos, that’s their call, but I can’t. DON’T EVER PAY FOR THEM.

Moving forward: Yesterday, I sent the WB lawyers my revamped version of EP1, hoping they would tell me if they see any issues. I doubt I will hear back. I’m just trying to save myself from posting the video and then them sending me another cease and desist, me having to take it back down, re-edit, and post it again. If I don’t hear back, I will post Ep1 next Wednesday. Then repeat the cycle in two weeks with Ep3, etc. To be fair to the WB lawyers, they did not copyright strike my channel when they could have, so I want to be respectful of them too.

One thing I want to make very clear here…I have no one else to blame for all of this than myself. From the first day, I started to write the script, I knew this was all a gamble. VH has the absolute right to do with their IP as they want, even if it seems dicky. In my mind, it would be okay because if you look on YoutTube, it appears that VH does next to no policing of their music. You can look on eBay and buy a bootleg copy of the US Festival etc.. Everywhere I looked VH was not doing much to stop people from making money off of their copyright/trademark. So why would they care if a fan made videos on them where he made no money? I was wrong. So now I’m trying to make lemonade and move on.

There is more to tell about this story, but I need to move on with my day for now. Thanks, everyone, for all the great comments of support.

Thank you Alan,like you said i don’t understand why they operate that way because to me it only gives them more visibility and maybe more people that would buy their music but no, they have a frame of mind that i don’t understand and how many times can they sell the same stuff remastered, re-remastered etc…I want to thank you again for doing this documentary in those V-H diet times,i truly appreciate the fact that you fought to get this series out.

JasonA: I’m still curious how/why DLR has Episode 2 up on his Youtube channel. Alan, can you please shed some light on that? Did DLR’s people contact you? Since it hasn’t been taken down yet, maybe this is the way to release the rest of the episodes with the music intact?

I haven’t thought of that but it’s a great idea.

My browser won’t let me quote messages, but Alan, you’re dealing with lifelong, avid VH fans here. We ALL know how the delicacies work with the machinations of this band. At times I’m surprised there is still a diehard fan base at all. You did a great job on what I/we were able to see. I don’t know how they’re taking over your individual work, but I’ll be waiting to hear the details of the drama that you’ve had to endure with this project. Thank you for all of your hard work.

“Edited” version completed and watched. I know the labor was intensive, and part of the final was ripped away, but I can honestly say IT IS STILL AN INCREDIBLE PRODUCT!!!