I already know how this is going to play out. It’s not fair that I can see certain aspects of the future like a crystal ball. The truth is it wasn’t personal. I am on a content ID aware program that alerts me to ANYONE who uploads my own short films anywhere on YouTube. I have an automatic response to take them down if used in their entirety. It’s a violation of copyright laws. Even if it was someone I used to spoon on a regular basis. 
Okay, look I make money from my videos on YouTube. It’s not a lot. It can be $14 one month or $600 the next. If anyone re-uploads them on another site or the same site and offers them for free without ads, I will make less money. Each view is worth cash money.
I own the copyrights in my videos, so I will exercise that right when someone uses my work without permission. It’s common sense. The fact that this will be taken personal isn’t my problem. I don’t derive any pleasure from the likelihood that more than a dozen violations will most likely result in someone’s entire YouTube account being deleted.
Normally, I would have sent a polite email to nicely request the videos be taken down voluntarily, but that wasn’t an option in this case. If someone wants to use pieces of my movies for the demo reel, no problem. Want to use a part of it in some kind of demonstration, no big deal. But the entire movies, including the title that says “Sonnyboo Presents” or “Framelines”?
It’s so easy to just use the embedding from YouTube for use on facebook or blogs. Why upload and try to take credit for creating the movies? Or take away my chance to make money on the works I wrote/produced/directed/edited? All this is so unnecessary and unpleasant. Why not ask me first?
Business is business. Personal doesn’t work into that.
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