Thread: Uploading videomaterial taped on hafla's: what is your opinion?

I have a bit of time and I'm going through old videomaterial that I taped during BD hafla's between 2006-2010. A lot of it is nice stuff and I find it a waste to let it gather virtual dust in my computer. I want to upload some of the videomaterial that I took of other dancers to youtube so others can enjoy it too. If the original performer doesn't want their clip online, I will take it down.

These are performances by professional dancers on a public hafla, some of the performances were/are online but taped by someone else. In that case I feel it adds an extra viewpoint, sometimes the quality of my video is better then what is already out there.

What would you do in this case? Or what if you were at the other end, how would you feel about this dilemma?

Out of respect for your fellow dancers, contact them first and give them the option of previewing what you want to put online before uploading anything. Unless these dancers are Dina-level professionals and live in a world where they expect to be in somewhat continuous damage-control mode, or they subscribe to the notion that any publicity is good publicity, they may feel very strongly against having their performances put online by someone else. If these videos were produced in conjunction with the venue organizer, how do you know they don't already have these clips themselves and are making a conscious choice to keep them off YouTube?

Uploading someone else's material like this may also be putting them at the risk for copyright infringement lawsuits, and if they want to take that gamble in the name of self promotion, that is their prerogative, but don't do it for them. You don't have the legal ownership of any video you didn't take yourself, and they may not have secured proper performance clearance for their music. Offer them the choice to opt in up front, not the hassle of opting out later.

I agree, I hate "opt out" deals- ask first- they may not even realize there was a record of the performance, & I, for one, am very picky about what I want of my work out there. I think it's awesome that you are willing to do this for dancers who are interested, just make sure they ARE interested.

Originally Posted by Lara L

I agree, I hate "opt out" deals- ask first- they may not even realize there was a record of the performance, & I, for one, am very picky about what I want of my work out there. I think it's awesome that you are willing to do this for dancers who are interested, just make sure they ARE interested.

Yes. While I would love to get my hands on more recent video of my dancing, I am also a relatively new pro. I'd absolutely shudder to see footage of myself going back as far as 2006 because that's roughly when I first started performing and I've improved since then. My newbie mistakes and/or costuming SNAFU's are best left buried in the annals of time ..c::

It's really nice of you to share video with your dancer-friends. Just ask first and let them make the call!

Hi everyone, good to hear options on what to do! I'll put all the video's on private view and mail the link to the dancers to give them a chance to opt-in. If they do, I put the video on public view. If they don't want the material online, I'll erase it. In both cases I'l offer to send them the original file.

Chiming in to ask first. As a now professional dancer who has current (and decent) clips of my own on YouTube, I would be pretty upset if someone posted footage of me performing at a hafla as a baby dancer.

Laura, I thought baby dancers were dancers who just took their first steps, students who started performing. In your post, do you mean baby dancer as a professional dancer who has just started performing?

I'm glad that there is no material of my early days as a pro dancer online, as I've been watching videos of that time. I was so not ready at the time!

I vote for asking their permission first to!

B

I agree with your conclusion to keep the video private until a dancer tells you she wants to opt in.

There are all kinds of reasons why a dancer might not want a video posted of herself even if the dance quality is something she could be proud of.

Examples:

• Maybe her style has changed since then and she prefers to no longer associate herself with that style.
• Maybe she has fled a domestic violence situation or stalker and doesn't want to be very visible online for fear of being found by her ex.
• Maybe she is no longer dancing and prefers to not advertise the fact that she once did for either family-related or job-related reasons.

I have a friend who adamantly does NOT want any photos or videos of her online because in her day job she used to be a mental health worker, and in that job she received death threats from people she worked with. She feels safe enough dancing in public because the chances of these people going to a belly dance hafla, festival, or Middle Eastern restaurant are remote, but the Internet adds a level of visibility she prefers to avoid.

So, you never can tell why someone might not want video posted of herself.

Originally Posted by mekyria

Laura, I thought baby dancers were dancers who just took their first steps, students who started performing. In your post, do you mean baby dancer as a professional dancer who has just started performing?

I'm glad that there is no material of my early days as a pro dancer online, as I've been watching videos of that time. I was so not ready at the time!

Ooops, I missed the part in your first post where you said all the dancers were pros. By baby dancer I meant footage of before I was doing pro gigs, and just getting as much performance experience as possible at haflas.

I do think that once you put yourself out there as a pro, you have to own any of your older, not-so-fantastic footage if it shows up. If it was so horrible that I'd die of embarrassment if anyone saw video of it today, I should not have been taking paid gigs at that point in the first place. But I'd still prefer to have as much footage of myself online be that which reflects the skill level I'm currently at.

I agree, I think getting permission first is the way to go. And in writing.

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

Out of respect for your fellow dancers, contact them first and give them the option of previewing what you want to put online before uploading anything. Unless these dancers are Dina-level professionals and live in a world where they expect to be in somewhat continuous damage-control mode, or they subscribe to the notion that any publicity is good publicity, they may feel very strongly against having their performances put online by someone else. If these videos were produced in conjunction with the venue organizer, how do you know they don't already have these clips themselves and are making a conscious choice to keep them off YouTube?

Uploading someone else's material like this may also be putting them at the risk for copyright infringement lawsuits, and if they want to take that gamble in the name of self promotion, that is their prerogative, but don't do it for them. You don't have the legal ownership of any video you didn't take yourself, and they may not have secured proper performance clearance for their music. Offer them the choice to opt in up front, not the hassle of opting out later.

Just a question that takes it one step further: what if you went to Egypt and taped a performance of [insert famous dancer]. Would you put it online? Email first to ask permission? Keep it in your private collection?

Originally Posted by mekyria

Just a question that takes it one step further: what if you went to Egypt and taped a performance of [insert famous dancer]. Would you put it online? Email first to ask permission? Keep it in your private collection?

I wouldn't put it online without explicit permission. Actually, I'd be hesitant to film in the first place without asking the venue or the dancer if it was okay.