Universal Cracks Down on Tremors Videos

In the past two days three of my previously untouched videos featuring footage from Tremors on YouTube has been flagged by NBC Universal. Two of the videos were over seven years old, and the third six and a half, they were hardly newly uploaded. Could Universal be securing its copyright ground in preparation for Tremors 5?

One thing that many might not know is that in order for a video featuring footage or audio to be taken down on YouTube the owner has to upload their own version of it (unless they for some reason decide to do it manually). YouTube then goes through the video and whenever it recognises bits or pieces of it elsewhere they either notify the original owner, or goes through with a pre-determined action defined by the owner. Normally, these days, that action is merely seizing the ad revenue, and otherwise leaving the video alone. Sometimes they might also block the footage in certain territories where rights and laws might differ from others. That makes it even more interesting what Universal decided to do.

They decided to completely block the videos globally. They cannot be viewed at all, not even by me, the uploader. This makes me think that they have plans beyond just making sure no one else profits from their videos (my videos did not run ads to begin with, however). They might just be sending a message they won't allow copyright violations on their property, but it's the timing of it all that's the most interesting. If you go through my blog you will see that there are substantial rumours going around that production on a fifth Tremors film is just about to begin. They could be trying to regain control of their franchise in a time when they're trying to relaunch it. They want to make sure there isn't anything iffy out there containing their footage. Something at all that might potentially risk their soon-revived franchise.

Now, I know this is really grasping at straws, but I find it interesting nonetheless. YouTube videos that's been up for over seven years tend not to be blocked all of a sudden unless the owners has renewed interest in the material. I'm choosing to believe this might be related to the whole sequel ordeal. If not, there's still bound to be some revamping behind the scenes, maybe something that's leading up to the 25th anniversary next year. One of the videos blocked featured footage from the original film (the two others were the intro and end credits of Tremors: The Series respectively). So it specifically something Universal has uploaded. Only time will tell if I'm crazy or not.