News

"Copyright infringement" forces closure of YouTube channel Majestic Casual

Google is also funding content creators who have been the subject of takedowns

YouTube channel Majestic Casual has been taken down.

A message on the channel's homepage reads: "Majestic Casual has been terminated because we've received multiple third-party claims of copyright infringement regarding material that the user posted."

Tracks by Sango, XXYYXX and Chance the Rapper were among those hosted by Majestic and it apologised to its 681,000-plus fans on Facebook with an Arnold Schwarzenegger "I'll be back" compilation.

Describing its output as "deep house, experimental, hip hop, indie, pop", it also released a two-disc compilation, 'Majestic Casual', featuring SBTRKT, Flume, Bondax and Nosaj Thing back in 2013.

News of the takedown follows reports that YouTube owner Google would be providing up to $1 million (£650,000) in legal fees to assist content creators which have been the target of a copyright takedown.

Fred von Lohmann, Google's copyright legal director, wrote a blog post, stating: "We are offering legal support to a handful of videos that we believe represent clear fair uses which have been subject to DMCA takedowns."

"We're doing this because we recognise that creators can be intimidated by the DMCA's (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) counter-notification process and the potential for litigation that comes with it."

However, he did make it clear that the legal coverage cannot be given to everyone.

This is similar to the ongoing SoundCloud saga, in which major labels have apparently had the freedom to remove content from the streaming site.