Published on September 5, 2008

Now, I understand that NBC has exclusive Olympic broadcast rights in the United States. While I generally disagree with blocking a rather harmless amateur video where the actual competition was virtually impossible to see, I understand the laws must be obeyed. But blocking the video everywhere? Does NBC have the right to block people in China, or Canada for that matter, from seeing it?

BEIJING - I admit, it crossed my mind when I uploaded it: a video showing the families of the Canadian Men's 8 rowing team as they crossed the finish line to win gold at the Beijing Olympics. I was fortunate enough to be in the stands, and got a close up expression of the families at the precise moment their sons, nephews, and even grandsons won gold. The video was quite moving.

I uploaded it to Youtube and wrote a post about the video, titled "What It Means to Win Gold". The video has been viewed over 3,000 times on Youtube, and has been promoted on radio stations in Canada. It was a simple, distorted, amateur video shot on a cheap Olympus camera.

I'd recommend watching it to get a feel for what it's like for families at the games -- but unfortunately it has been removed from the Youtube site. I received this letter today from the Google-run company:

Dear zhongnanhaiblog,

NBC Universal (Sports) has claimed some or all visual content in your video Men's Rowing Eight -- In the Stands. This claim was made as part of the YouTube Content Identification program.

Your video is no longer available because NBC Universal (Sports) has chosen to block it.

Claim Details:

Copyright owner:	NBC Universal (Sports)
Content claimed:	Some or all of the visual content
Policy:	Block this content. Applies to these locations: Everywhere

NBC Universal (Sports) claimed this content as a part of the YouTube Content Identification program. YouTube allows partners to review YouTube videos for content to which they own the rights. Partners may use our automated video / audio matching system to identify their content, or they may manually review videos.

For more information about this claim, visit the Video ID Matches section of your YouTube account.

Please Note: Repeat incidents of copyright infringement will result in the suspension of your account and all videos uploaded to that account. In order to avoid future strikes against your account, please delete any videos to which you do not own the rights, and refrain from uploading additional videos that infringe on the copyrights of others. For more information about YouTube's copyright policy, please read the Copyright Tips guide. If you believe that this claim was made in error, or that you are otherwise authorized to use the content at issue, you may file a counter notice. For more information on this process, please see: How do I file a counter notice?

Please note that under Section 512(f) of the Copyright Act, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification may be subject to liability.

Sincerely,
The YouTube Content Identification Team

Now, I understand that NBC has exclusive Olympic broadcast rights in the United States. While I disagree with blocking an amateur video where the actual competition was virtually impossible to see, I understand the laws must be obeyed. But blocking the video everywhere? Does NBC have the right to block people in China, or Canada for that matter, from seeing it? I suppose CBC or other Olympic broadcasters could file similar complaints with Youtube, but they haven't.

While I know NBC has exclusive rights, this leaves a bitter taste in one's mouth. Surely a video showing an ebullient family is harmless, and isn't cutting into NBC's Olympic profits. It's a Canadian celebration, after all.