Brian May calls out ‘draconian’ treatment of fans who upload Queen’s concert videos
“The decision to take these videos down certainly hasn’t come from us, the band.”
Images: Aldara Zarraoa / Getty Images
Sir Brian May has called out the ‘draconian’ treatment of social media sites towards users who upload videos of Queen’s live shows.
Of late, fans of the band have been hit by strikes on videos of Queen’s concerts that they’d uploaded onto YouTube, a stack of which can cause one’s channel to be shut down.
Responding to a fan who warned of the copyright claims, the guitarist has taken to Instagram to alert fans to be careful with their accounts while the band looked into the situation.
“Hi folks – I’ve been watching this for a few days, and I’m very concerned,” May begins. “I’ve asked our management to look into it, and try to figure out if there is a reason for Instagram and Universal suddenly becoming so draconian.”
He adds that “The decision to take these videos down certainly hasn’t come from us, the band” and that “hopefully we will get an answer soon.”
“Meanwhile, be extra careful and I’m sorry you good folks of good intentions have been put in this position. Wishing you a happy Christmas season. In common with many of you, I don’t find it easy to come up to the level of frenetic joyfulness that is portrayed in the media as requisite for this time of year. But let’s all look around us, and look for ways to make other people’s Christmases as jolly as possible. Apart from anything else, it’s good therapy! Cheers all! Bri”
Earlier this year, it was reported that the surviving members of Queen were in the process of selling their catalogue to Universal Music Group for a whopping $1 billion, though a spokesperson for Disney Music Group later told CNN that the company has no plans to sell the catalogue.
In other news, Queen and Adam Lambert recently wrapped up the North American leg of their ‘Rhapsody’ tour with two sold-out shows at Los Angeles’ BMO Stadium.