Vimeo DMCA Music Video Takedowns Hitting Their Three Strikes Rule

Originally when we wrote about Vimeo's takedowns of music videos due to DCMA notices, we noted that on Vimeo's DMCA page, it mentions a three strikes rule that seemed very likely to come into play. Basically, if you have 3 or more DMCA takedown requests related to your account, your Vimeo account can be terminated - "VIMEO will terminate user accounts that have been the subject of three (3) separate DMCA notices."

So, if you are a music video director or production company that has a lot of music videos sitting on your account, you may hit that limit really quickly. Fast forward two weeks after the original takedowns, and here we are:

@VimeoStaff @Vimeo Vimeo deleted my account 4 putting up projects I created & directed. Beware creative professionals pic.twitter.com/cvOAIJeVSa

— Frank Borin (@frankborin) March 21, 2014

3 strikes & you're out! @vimeo have now suspended our entire account because we've had more than 3 DMCA claims on our music videos. Oh dear

— Somesuch & Co (@Somesuchandco) March 21, 2014

This is how @vimeo break it to you. My favourite line is 'We hope you find a video host more suited to your needs'... pic.twitter.com/dXQfShx2xV

— Somesuch & Co (@Somesuchandco) March 21, 2014

@Somesuchandco @Vimeo same thing happened to us. thanks for the warning Vimeo!!

— GOODCOMPANY (@GOODCOtweets) March 22, 2014

@Somesuchandco @michaelragen @Vimeo my website is now void due to vimeo suspension

— DIANEMARTEL (@DIANEMARTELOFF) March 22, 2014

Diane Martel, director of some of the biggest music videos of 2013 and had some 76 videos on her Vimeo account, is correct - due to her account being deleted her website is now mostly a Vimeo error.

So far the only reply we've seen from Vimeo is to Frank Borin:

@frankborin Hi Frank, I can see that you wrote into support about the issue, so we'll follow up with you there ASAP!

— VimeoStaff (@VimeoStaff) March 21, 2014

Obviously, even though some originally removed music videos have been restored, this is far from resolved for people and companies that make music videos and use Vimeo to showcase them. This is also a significantly larger issue than having videos removed from an account, as many accounts are used to house videos other than music videos - such as commercials and short film work.

Update: March 24

More Media have not announced it, but their Vimeo account appears to have been removed.