OverClocked ReMix, a non-profit organization “dedicated to the appreciation and promotion of video game music as an art form,” had its YouTube account suspended over the weekend.
Formed in 1999 by David W. Lloyd, OverClocked ReMix offers thousands of fan-made songs—re-interpreted from video game themes—for free download. The site also offers information on music featured in video games as well as the composers. The OverClocked ReMix YouTube channel had housed demos, previews and trailers.
Since the suspension, OverClocked ReMix has appealed to its community to help them get their channel back.
“This account has been suspended due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube’s policy against spam, scams and commercially deceptive content,” states the official text on the now-closed YouTube channel.
OverClocked ReMix adamantly refutes the claim.
“We don’t spam, we don’t scam, and since we’re not selling music but giving it away for free, it’s pretty much impossible for us to be commercially deceptive,” OverClocked ReMix posted in its forum.
“Geez, this is really unsettling. Hopefully it was just a misunderstanding that can be cleared up. But with all the talk of internet censorship lately, the whole thing makes me very uncomfortable” responded Main Finger in the OverClocked ReMix thread.
Other community members were sure it was just a “minor mistake,” including Larry “Liontamer” Oji, the community manager and submissions judge at OverClocked ReMix.
“We’ve never had any activity or videos flagged before now, so we know this takedown is just an unfortunate mistake,” wrote Oji to the Daily Dot.
“We’re disappointed by the situation simply because our community has never, ever been about spamming or profiteering,” continued Oji. “We’re all volunteers, and all of the work we’ve done since 1999 on OverClocked ReMix is to help promote the art of video game music, as well as the great musicians who create the OC ReMixes, which have always been distributed for free and with the artists’ permission.”
Since the suspension, OverClocked ReMix has asked their fans to write to Google or tweet the following at YouTube: “PLEASE RT! ATTN @YouTube – @ocremix is a legitimate organization that doesn’t scam or spam, and I believe its YT account should be restored!”
So far the message has been retweeted hundreds of times.
One forum user named Fishy pointed out the irony of the tweeting campaign: “This is closer to spam then the channel ever was.”
As stated in its community guidelines, YouTube does not comment on individual videos or channels. Videos and channels are usually only suspended after they have been flagged by the community.
Photo by SeatlleGeekly