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Daniel Harris stealing NG music.

16,487 Views | 185 Replies
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Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-24 22:46:24


Hey guys,

I was recently alerted to this guy "Daniel Harris" stealing my song and selling it on Itunes and stuff. He even went as far as to get it copyright protected so now people that are using it on YouTube are getting messages saying it's protected. THIS IS NOT OKAY.

When I looked deeper into it, I found that most (if not all) of his music is just music that has been stolen from Newgrounds I know that my Heaven Rd. 2, and DaGrahamCracka's Runaway are a couple of them, but I recognize many more (can't remember the names right now)

Anyone know what we can do about this? I've already mentioned it to my lawyer and he said I can send out a cease and desist letter to the places distributing it, but that is going to cost me money AND will only help with my song.

Check out his links

Here
Here
I don't have a spotify account so this is only my song, but here as well

Can Newgrounds get involved in this?


At 3/27/11 10:22 PM, sugarsimon wrote:

the brilliant songs who create a production for music

Wat

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-24 22:51:35


That first link wasn't exactly spot-on, but I wrote it in a hurry.


At 3/27/11 10:22 PM, sugarsimon wrote:

the brilliant songs who create a production for music

Wat

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-24 23:16:31


At 4/24/14 10:51 PM, Envy wrote: That first link wasn't exactly spot-on, but I wrote it in a hurry.

This has been one of my concerns for a while. I would like to make downloads optional. Im sure if this received enough attention, they would change things around.

Anybody else like the idea of having the option to disable downloads?

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-24 23:39:24


I have nothing against free downloads. In fact, I have nothing against people using my music in their videos and monetizing them.. I do have a problem with people making COPYRIGHT CLAIMS on my music. This means they beyond the normal "change the song name and pretend it's theirs" shtick. These people are actually taking legal action to protect MY music for them. I've already dealt with this a couple times now where people are using my stuff and saying it's theirs, submitting it to publishers and getting it copyright protected. I'm REALLY running out of patience. I've sent out countless E-mails to different people to get it sorted out, and for the most part it works but really.. These are the people that ruin the idea of free music. Now that I've been forced to start talking to lawyers because of these many people claiming my work as their own, it's made me quite bitter and I hate it.

I really want to be able to release music for free for people to use how they see fit, or listen to freely, but people like this ruin it for everyone. It's honestly one of the bigger reasons I've had to switch to selling my music rather than making it available for free.

The bruins won tonight so I'm drunk and ranting now, but you get my point. Everyone complains labels and stuff, but this is why they exist. Because some people will try and profit off of other people's hard work. It's really sad.


At 3/27/11 10:22 PM, sugarsimon wrote:

the brilliant songs who create a production for music

Wat

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-24 23:41:19


Please forgive my grammatical errors/missed words etc.


At 3/27/11 10:22 PM, sugarsimon wrote:

the brilliant songs who create a production for music

Wat

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-24 23:42:36


At 4/24/14 11:16 PM, ksthultz15 wrote: Anybody else like the idea of having the option to disable downloads?

This has been brought up before.

The whole point of the audio portal is to provide copyright free downloadable music.

Also, disabling downloads on the page won't prevent people from ripping it. There are plenty of browser add-ons that get around it anyways.

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-24 23:55:34


At 4/24/14 11:42 PM, BrokenDeck wrote:
At 4/24/14 11:16 PM, ksthultz15 wrote: Anybody else like the idea of having the option to disable downloads?
This has been brought up before.

The whole point of the audio portal is to provide copyright free downloadable music.

Also, disabling downloads on the page won't prevent people from ripping it. There are plenty of browser add-ons that get around it anyways.

Yea true. I guess. I just dont want this to happen to me, and risk my audio career.

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-24 23:58:21


At 4/24/14 11:39 PM, Envy wrote: .........The bruins won tonight so I'm drunk and ranting now, but you get my point. Everyone complains labels and stuff, but this is why they exist. Because some people will try and profit off of other people's hard work. It's really sad.

I can only imagine. I took a break from newgrounds in fear of this. If and when Im signed to a label, im going to stop posting audio here. I hope all works out for you man.

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 01:22:15


The way I understand it, and as I've been told by professionals in the music business, is that even though he copyrighted it first on paper, you should still win the case if you decide it's worth your money taking him to court because you have those original files on your computer. It shows the date of the project and the creative process of your project way before he was able to copyright them. All he has is the audio file. You even have the date of when you uploaded it unto Newgrounds under this license.
I wouldn't stress out about it. Have a lawyer send a letter, or wait until this guy becomes rich and famous. Highly unlikely, but you would prefer the latter.

At 4/24/14 11:39 PM, Envy wrote: The bruins won tonight so I'm drunk and ranting now, but you get my point.

Go Hawks! :)

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 01:30:52


At 4/25/14 01:22 AM, Phonometrologist wrote: The way I understand it, and as I've been told by professionals in the music business, is that even though he copyrighted it first on paper, you should still win the case if you decide it's worth your money taking him to court because you have those original files on your computer. It shows the date of the project and the creative process of your project way before he was able to copyright them. All he has is the audio file. You even have the date of when you uploaded it unto Newgrounds under this license.

I've had issues before with people and have simply sent proof to whatever outlet they've used. The issue with this particular song is that it was release 7 years ago... I've been through about 4 computers since then. I was 16 when I released it and wasn't thinking this far into the future, and no longer have the file. The Newgrounds link proves quite a bit though considering the date... Again, I'm not looking to make my OWN money off of this, I just don't want anyone who is using it in their own video to be stopped because this asshat decided to copyright my song. I've solved a few copyright issues already and I have a feeling that this is just the beginning...

I wouldn't stress out about it. Have a lawyer send a letter, or wait until this guy becomes rich and famous. Highly unlikely, but you would prefer the latter.

I've talked with my lawyer and apparently it's not super cheap to send out a bunch of cease and desist letters... Fortunately for me, most of the people I've contacted have responded relatively quickly, and have been understanding and believe me...

At 4/24/14 11:39 PM, Envy wrote: The bruins won tonight so I'm drunk and ranting now, but you get my point.
Go Hawks! :)

I hate you <3


At 3/27/11 10:22 PM, sugarsimon wrote:

the brilliant songs who create a production for music

Wat

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 01:45:28


maybe you can get in touch with other people who he stole music from and see if you can build a completely irrefutable case against him

also, i'm not saying you should get people to leave 1 star reviews on his stuff saying it was stolen from other artists. but maybe do that.


p.s. i am gay

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 02:04:12


At 4/25/14 01:45 AM, midimachine wrote: maybe you can get in touch with other people who he stole music from and see if you can build a completely irrefutable case against him

also, i'm not saying you should get people to leave 1 star reviews on his stuff saying it was stolen from other artists. but maybe do that.

This is why I'm here. I'm 90% sure that ALL of his stuff is from Newgrounds. I just got in touch with DaGrahamCracka and let him know what was going on... If I'm not mistaken, much of his stuff is taken from Newgrounds gods likes Paragonx9... Not exactly possible to get in touch with those guys. I just figured since Newgrounds has its own license as well protecting these guys that they would be able to get involved. One dude coming down on you for one song, but the entire site you stole from is entirely different. It's obvious that this guy is targeting newgrounds music (which is available for free) to sell... There has to be something the higher ups involved in the site can do.


At 3/27/11 10:22 PM, sugarsimon wrote:

the brilliant songs who create a production for music

Wat

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 03:11:01


These songs aren't even creatively named. "Madness" is literally just the music from the madness cartoon.

Furthermore, his copyright claim is void, because he doesn't have the rights to the song. You released your song under a Creative Commons license, which means NO ONE can just "copyright it". It's as simple as pointing to the newgrounds upload date as proof that he didn't compose the song. You don't even need the original flp file. In fact, you should look for your song on youtube - odds are, someone uploaded it to youtube before this guy claimed to have released it, which is sufficient proof. If he told google he owned the rights to the song, he violated the agreement along with all the other anti-theft laws.

If you don't want to spend too much money you could try to drag him into a small-claims court. You should be able to submit a DMCA free of charge to any website that is hosting content. That's kind of the point of a DMCA.

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 06:14:35


At 4/24/14 11:42 PM, BrokenDeck wrote: The whole point of the audio portal is to provide copyright free downloadable music.

Songs posted at NG are released under CC, right? Doesn't it mean that it has at least some rights reserved. instead of copyright free?

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 07:03:54


At 4/25/14 06:14 AM, newhansen wrote:
At 4/24/14 11:42 PM, BrokenDeck wrote: The whole point of the audio portal is to provide copyright free downloadable music.
Songs posted at NG are released under CC, right? Doesn't it mean that it has at least some rights reserved. instead of copyright free?

CC doesn't mean copyright free. I think there is a confusion between royalty free (no extra fees after you use the track), free download, free to use.
The CC license on Newgrounds allow also transforming the source material but you must give credit to the original creator.

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 07:14:31



Our music will change the world...

BBS Signature

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 07:17:21



Our music will change the world...

BBS Signature

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 07:22:00



Our music will change the world...

BBS Signature

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 07:33:40


What's funny is that he has a bunch of drum covers on Youtube, a list of of gear (drums) on his website, yet none of the songs use real drums bar from the metal songs he's pinched, which all have different sounding drum kits anyway.

This happened to a bunch of Newgrounds users a while back as well, some "girl" was selling their music and had quite a following. Can't find that thread though unfortunately.

How did found out about this?

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 07:46:53


Not sure if "Newgrounds" as a whole can do something about this, but the original authors of the music certainly can. What "Daniel Harris" is doing is simply illegal, as everything you upload here still belongs to you.

The Newgrounds CC license simply states that people can use your music for non-commercial projects without asking you, provided that they give credit. This means you still own all the rights to the song, and they cannot make any money out of it (nor claim it is theirs).

In this case you're well in the position to sue the guy, but I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know what procedures exactly you should follow.

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 08:25:10


Oh man. Used to know someone <over the internet> that had created an entire musician persona using other people's music.
He'd brag about it in chatrooms and whatnot. It was really sad (turns out he was a meth-head, too).

Didn't go as far as copyrighting it.

Anyway, yea, thankfully in a court you'd win as long as you have some proof that you created the material. This is part of why I always keep all my Reaper project files. I'd wager the project file of a music creation software that has an earlier date stamp than his copyright and that Renders the same song he claims to have rights to trumps everything else in terms of evidence.

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 09:24:44


I havent had tim eto go through his stuff, but we need to isolate what newgrounds tracks he's taken to present a case against him. All you need is the upload date, thats a stamp on your CC that you agreed to. Two I noticed was.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_2?rh=n%3A163856011%2Ck%3ADaniel+Harris%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A625151011&page=2&keywords=Daniel+Harris&ie=UTF8&qid=1398430945&ajr=0

@artificial fear

His title: Stone tower temple (metal cover)

@EON

His title Matrix (revised Cover)


BBS Signature

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 09:33:09


In my country, a common tip to independant artists in general is to send yourself a post mail with all the files, lyrics, everything that can prove you're the original creator (it could be stems, software files, etc in usb key).
Of course never open it, and most importantly, the post stamp will prove the anteriority of your creation.
You're then free to share your creation to the world.
Post stamp are acceptable proofs in court for those kind of cases.
Prove anteriority, win.


Salut!

I create 3D art here, and you can listen to my album there! Comments/Feedback appreciated.

Merci!

BBS Signature

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 09:48:43


He's completely in the wrong. It states in the agreement he and you must abide by on Newgrounds on every song.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

No credit given - rule break 1. He's selling them - rule break 2. He's not done squat to them, just uploaded it - and there is no redistribution using the same CC license as his is commercial. - rule break 3.

When you uploaded your track the legal code specifically states that this is the agreement you abide by when uploading. These are your terms of agreement. So he is in complete breach of copyright. And when he copyrighted those tracks, he was in breach of that contract by claiming ownership, something he did not behold.


BBS Signature

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 11:51:38


At 4/25/14 07:03 AM, sorohanro wrote:
At 4/25/14 06:14 AM, newhansen wrote:
At 4/24/14 11:42 PM, BrokenDeck wrote: The whole point of the audio portal is to provide copyright free downloadable music.
Songs posted at NG are released under CC, right? Doesn't it mean that it has at least some rights reserved. instead of copyright free?
CC doesn't mean copyright free.

Allow me to clarify what my train of thought was for this statement.
While I was replying to the disable downloads idea, I should have used the phrase "Non-copyrighted" instead, as it would have correctly implied partial rights (such as those included with a CC license)
Sorry for the confusion my oopsie caused.

Good catch btw

I hope you guys nail Daniel Harris good!

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 12:04:38


Sending cease and desist orders to the sites distributing his music won't change the fact that he's copyrighted other people's work. I don't know about the UK's laws, but I think in the US he's committed Willful Infringement With Intent to Profit which is a felony. Perhaps that's a bit extreme since he doesn't seem to have a huge following, but I bet it would scare the pants off him.

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 12:08:19


At 4/25/14 07:33 AM, Nitrocore wrote: How did found out about this?

I got a PM from someone saying their video got flagged for using the song "Shadowbeat" by Daniel Harris on YouTube.


At 3/27/11 10:22 PM, sugarsimon wrote:

the brilliant songs who create a production for music

Wat

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 12:15:20


i wish i had talent


lel

BBS Signature

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 12:49:11


He's got a new EP coming out soon it says. I suggest taking action before that comes out.


Formerly Known As J-Rex

BBS Signature

Response to Daniel Harris stealing NG music. 2014-04-25 12:54:42


At 4/25/14 12:04 PM, DamienFleisch wrote: Sending cease and desist orders to the sites distributing his music won't change the fact that he's copyrighted other people's work. I don't know about the UK's laws, but I think in the US he's committed Willful Infringement With Intent to Profit which is a felony.

It's the same in the UK, you cant copyright a track which doesnt belong to you.


BBS Signature