Rockitt Rant – Live Concert Videos
When I started up Hard Rock Hideout back in 2006, I started becoming interested in taking live video from the concerts I have attended. I never had the intentions of selling or trading any of the clips I have taken, nor have I tried to make any profit off of the clips. I would sometimes post the videos in concert reviews I have written, and let them stay posted over at Youtube where a whole new generation of rock fans could explore and check out the bands that I grew up with. I was hoping that some of the clips I took would help promote the bands that I continue to write about at HRH on a regular basis. Over the last year or so, I have gotten away from taking live clips, and have tried to focus more on the pictures. It just isn’t as much fun to attend a concert with your face behind a camera the whole time. As much as I love to promote the bands I enjoy, I like to enjoy their music and live performances just as much as you do.
Over the years, I have taken well over a hundred clips with videos from Airbourne, Black Stone Cherry, Jackyl, Black Tide, Poison, Disturbed, Slipknot, Motley Crue & many more. Blabbermouth has used the videos I have taken in their news articles several times (Thank you!), and some artists have even included them in their news posts (i.e. Sebastian Bach). A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Youtube that they cancelled the Hard Rock Hideout youtube account. Why? Dokken claimed my videos were infringing upon them.
On one hand, I have to laugh at this. The only thing my videos showed was how bad Don Dokken looked, and how bad he was singing the last time I saw Dokken perform live (which was 2008 if I recall right ). On the other hand, I am more than a little pissed off about this. If Don had asked me to remove the clips, I would have gladly done so, instead he took a different path which helped my account get terminated. Did the video clips hurt Dokken in any way shape or form? Probably not. By having his clips removed, he helped kill hundreds of other videos which were promoting the bands I have seen live over the years. Some of my videos had rare performances, band lineups that are no longer intact (some members now deceased), and lots of other cool moments. Many of my videos have had thousands of views, and had so much traffic that Youtube themselves were trying to get me to sign up for advertising where they could put an overlay ad over the top of my video. I never allowed ads to be overlaid on my clips. I was not trying to profit off of them.
Sure, I didn’t have permission to capture dear old uncle Don performing live. So that is my own fault in that regard. In one fell swoop, Don Dokken killed all of my live clips which will not be seen online again. Whether I had his permission or not, in my opinion Don Dokken did more to hurt the live music scene than he did to help it.
What is your take on live amateur video clips? Like them or hate them? Tell me why!
Leave A Comment ↓
I think it’s very interesting that someone can take a picture & they OWN the rights to it. Yet, if you film something you don’t? It wasn’t like you were posting copyrighted videos. Don Dokken, Lars Ulrich & artist like them are exactly what is wrong with the music business. They continue to piss off people who are trying to help promote them and then wonder why the sales of their albums aren’t that good. I mean, when was the last time you downloaded a Dokken album illegally??? Don’s voice is so bad that it’s not even worth downloading. If he was really offended by the footage you posted he would do something about how bad he looked and preformed. Wouldn’t waste my money on Dokken, cause lets face it, there are a lot of bands out there more deserving of us promoting them. Youtube should have contacted tou about the “offending” footage & gave you a chance to remove it yourself.
i do the same thing you do and i do it for pure fun and for me to have some good memories …i think you got robbed .. i will and wont ever sell any of my clips if some one wants to do something with them they are more then welcome to them they are posted for people to enjoy and to help promte the bands…had a big stink at a vince neil show this summmer as danna strum didnt want any video shot i found this out after i posted the whole show and i have never heard anything about it there are still up .if i were ever asked to take a vid down i would out of respect . but i always thought if YOU recored a vide there was no infringement as it is your property but looks like i am wrong
Be careful if you took any of Dokken live, and hosted them at youtube. They won’t be there for long. The only artist that has ever asked me to remove a video is Stephen Pearcy, and did so immediately.
For starters, yes, don dokken is a total douche — always has been. I remember an interview he did on KNAC a few years ago where he said, in all seriousness, that the new guitarist in his band at the time would give him a foot rub after the show. dokken said that, after all his years in the business that he deserved to have his feet rubbed. can you imagine? You’re the guitarist in a band, and to stay in the band, you have to give the washed up lead singer a foot rub? I repeat, Don Dokken is a douche.
that said, you can’t really blame Youtube for the way they reacted. they have been the target of so much litigation over the years that to them, it’s less hastle to just remove a video channel all together than to have to deal with more crap from an artist and/or his label or lawyer.
I’ve been with you at several of those concerts, and your camera does a good job of capturing video and audio. Some of the live clips on YouTube are pretty wretched sound-wise, but yours were pretty good. It’s sad that they have taken this action.
That said, I’ve enjoyed the concerts where I have not personally taken video more. I rarely go back and watch the videos I’ve taken, so it’s a chore to sit there with my arms up in the air, glancing around to make sure security isn’t headed my way. But if there is a band I’ve never seen live, I do enjoy seeing quality live clips on the internet that others have taken.
Not only is it moronic for Don Dokken to go to you tube and ultimately wind up having the HRH account pulled, it’s stupid of you tube. They should have said to Don that they would ask you to remove all of the videos that pertain to him. Both parties are wrong here.
As for Don Dokken and Dokken the band, they are so washed up and has been. George Lynch never would have done this. Of course, George Lynch is making releavant albums with Lynch Mob, while Don Dokken is regurgitating hits that George wrote. Don Dokken sucks.
Wow. That’s pretty lame. He should of asked you to remove the videos. I’ve been shooting Rhino Bucket videos for quite a while and Georg has asked me to remove one video out of about 16. And I agree with you, it is a pain to be behind the camera. I’m shooting fewer videos nowadays.
We live during a new era of Hard Rock and Metal… one which “free promotion” from EXCELLENT sites like Hard Rock Hideout gives bands “the edge” in selling their CD’s and merch through such “free promotion”. It’s called “free advertising”!! This is NOT the 80’s where only “paper” publications promote a band… the world wide web now rules advertising. Wether it’s veteran bands like Dokken or up and coming bands, they should “embrace” the fact that there are sites like Hard Rock Hideout that give a damn about their careers at all!
Plus… how hypocritical is it that Youtube wanted to place ads above the same videos they now banned? Not to mention banning the entire account! Don’t think twice about what you have accomplished with Hard Rock Hideout… this site only gains more fans by the hour! Hold your Metalhead up high Rockitt… you are a LOYAL fan of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal that takes a huge chunk out of his life to promote the great music you love… and you did it for FREE with the “live” amateur concert videos.
The content of Hard Rock Hideout is EXCELLENT… you don’t need Youtube to be successful.
Stone
Wow…. Just WOW… Further proof that Don Dokken is one of the biggest douches ever. Hey Don.. FUCK YOU!
Simply unbelievable..I have enjoyed for a long time all of your videos..even had most of them on my favorites.
While I probably contributed on the comments section about how shitty Don Dokken sounded, i did it because IT’S TRUE!
I can picture the Dokken camp sitting behind a computer trying to wipe-out all clues of they performing live, because they have nothing better to do clearly.
Take KISS for instance.. they not only allow it, but encourage people to film it and post it online..
What kind of moron does not like free publicity!? Oh wait.. the ones that SUCK!
It’s a shame Rob. Damn shame that we lost all your videos because of a douchebag. Lesson learned I guess. Avoid Dokken and it’s chickens at all costs.
I think that is crazy for Don Dokken to take action to youtube and delete your entire account. Yes he should have asked you to remove the video first before going to youtube. There could have been some bad comments made about the Dokken video that he wanted youtube to remove as well. But for the future I would never do any interviews with Don Dokken or any members of Dokken for that matter ever again, take photos of the band, or post any related news about Don Dokken and the rest of the Dokken members. Hard Rock Hideout doesn’t need to support Dokken at all if Don Dokken wants to give you hell and contact you personally to take something down. Sebastian Bach is the same way, he’ll take his actions to youtube and get your account deleted but most of the time its a particular video. Maybe you should write a hated email to Don Dokken to tell him how pissed off your are with him.