It goes to say that there are many predatorial media platforms. Distorting or outright fabricating truths is not an uncommon element. However, you would never expect one of these platforms to target an aspiring musician, simply trying to share their musical compositions. However, that is exactly what Manorama News TV, a platform based in India, did.

To preserve the reputation of the artist, he requested that we only refer to him as “Dark,” which we are more than happy to comply with. In 2017, “Dark” released one of his musical pieces, a song called “Raven.” The piece, as he tells us, was composed solely by him. He informed us that the YouTube release had “Royalty free” videos with it. Royalty free means that the video is accessible to the general public, free of charge, to use in a variety of ways.

For years, the young musician had no problems. That changed recently when he saw a copyright claim on the music. He sent our platform the original music file, confirming that it was in fact his piece. The questionable aspect of the claim comes in what they did within the claim. They didn’t request the music to be removed. Instead, they claimed to have it monetized, to which they would be paid for the views. If this sounds like a money scheme to you, we are inclined to agree.

When reaching out to the platform, we were surprised to see that they have over three million followers. So why would they waste their time on a small-time musician? We asked the platform this very question. Rather than replying, they blocked any member of our team who tried to make contact.  With that, we contacted them under the “War on Corruption” page. Though we haven’t been blocked as of yet, there is no expectation that they will respond in any form aside blocking the platform.

Shady journalism is something our platform has always strongly disagreed with. For a platform like “Manorama News TV” to falsely claim ownership of material they clearly do not own, is simply appalling. I can imagine that it’s not an easy feat being a musician. I also can imagine that it’s infuriating for something you’ve spent a lot of time on to be stolen in this fashion. This situation not only reveals Manorama News as a crooked platform, it also demonstrates the flaws within YouTube’s copyright system. It seems that anybody can file a claim on any video they so desire. Following  the claim, they can simply profit from the work of others. These parasites aren’t required to prove the claim, only file it.