The social networking website Facebook has removed without warning two flower videos from Helsinki-resident Erkki Alanko’s profile page.
The videos in question portrayed garden flowers that Alanko himself had filmed.
Apparently the reason for the removal of the videos was the Antonio Vivaldi music that Alanko had used in the background.
In Facebook’s view the use of the music may have infringed copyright regulations.
The soundtrack of one of the videos originates from the SmartSound music library, which announces that its contents are royalty free. “Therefore it should be suitable for this type of use”, Alanko reckons.
The other video’s music was from a CD. Both used pieces were from Vivaldi’s set of violin concertos The Four Seasons.
A couple of weeks ago Alanko noticed that his videos had been removed from the site.
“On the Wall of my Facebook site there was a one-page edict the headline of which stated: ‘Suspected Copyright Infringement’.”
The owner of the rights to a recording, usually the record company, is entitled to a compensation if music from a CD is presented in public.
Alanko’s videos were viewable only by his fifty Facebook contacts.
“There is no established interpretation as to whether this type of use of music can be considered public performance”, says Jari Muikku, Director of International Affairs at the Finnish Composers' Copyright Society Teosto.
