Destiny Copyright Takedowns go rogue, hit Bungie videos

A “series of copyright takedowns” was noticeable determination Community since late last week and has removed music videos hosted on YouTube. While Typically, this type of promotion comes at the request of a publisher or studioin which case Bungie says it has nothing to do with them.

The problem was first addressed in this Reddit thread last week, when it was noticed that the work of a number of celebrities determination “Music Archivists” have been removed, a particular sore spot for the community as their channels helped preserve the soundtracks to content – from both determination Games – which were no longer available in the games themselves.

Things escalated from there over the next few days as more and more soundtrack videos were removed from more and more community members and creators’ channels before the takedowns even extended to clips people had uploaded of in-game cutscenes, which only contained parts of the soundtrack playing in the background.

The deactivation not only means that we have lost access to these soundtracks – albeit temporarily – but that a number of members of the determination Community also now have copyright strikes against their YouTube accounts.

The blame for the takedown spree was originally laid by community members at CSC, an affiliate of Bungie. But when things escalated even further and Bungie’s own videos started getting hit, it was clear something was wrong. A statement from the company released earlier today read:

We are aware of a number of takedowns for copyright infringement on YouTube and are actively investigating them. This includes content on our own Bungie Channels. These actions are NOT taken at the request of Bungie or our partners. Please wait for future updates.

The wording of this tweet – with its emphasis on things that don’t exist performed at someone’s request – leaves the door open to automated detection misfires and their subsequent disabling notifications to be the culprit. If that’s indeed the case, it’s another reminder that for all the convenience and entertainment that YouTube provides for creators and community members, YouTube also dwells in the very depths of the technocratic hell of late capitalism.