ARTIST NONPROFIT CALLS OUT YOUTUBE

The Content Creators Coalition, a nonprofit uniting artists and others organizing against YouTube's power and its refusal to pay fair rates for music, has unleashed two funny new videos (on the Vimeo platform, thank you very much) that pithily summarize why the Google-owned giant's actions represent a raw deal for creators. The two clips, which reference Apple's "Hi, I'm a Mac" campaign, take aim at YouTube's paltry compensation for ad-supported streams and its laughable "takedown" process for unauthorized usage in user-generated clips.

The nonprofit is also calling for an update to the DMCA, the safe harbor provision of which has been YT's excuse for unauthorized content.

The org has chapters in NYC, L.A., Nashville, San Francisco and Chicago, and includes music makers such as Melvin Gibbs, T Bone Burnett, Rosanne Cash, Cake's John McCrea and Tift Merrit among its executives. its Statement of Principles is brief and to the point:

"We believe in an Artist’s Control of Their Work; that it’s the right of any creator of cultural content to choose when, how, and whether their work is distributed for commercial gain, monetized with advertising, or otherwise exploited.

"We believe in Fair Pay; the right of content creators to a fair share of the wealth our work generates.

"We believe in Collective Representation; the right of all creators of cultural content to aggregate our power to protect our livelihoods and our art forms."

Stay tuned for updates on C3 and its efforts.