Tom Evans Audio doubles down on a bad decision

• Channel: Louis Rossmann
• Video: Tom Evans Audio doubles down on a bad decision
• Date: 2024-12-11
• Description:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPIrCaeVtvI

https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/59690/may-i-show-a-printed-circuit-board-of-a-device-on-the-internet

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AI Summary

Louis Rossmann discusses a situation where Tom Evans Audio Design, a company that makes audio equipment, sent a device to repair technician Mend It Mark, but then claimed copyright infringement when Mark posted a video of the repair on YouTube. Louis Rossmann argues that this is an example of censorship and not copyright, and that Mark's actions were fair use.

Censorship vs Fair Use

Louis Rossmann explains that Tom Evans Audio claimed copyright infringement because Mark showed pictures of their device's printed circuit board (PCB) in his repair video. However, Louis points out that the layout of a PCB is not protected by copyright, and that Mark was using the images for instructional purposes, which is considered fair use.

Patent vs Copyright

Louis Rossmann also discusses how patent law differs from copyright law. He explains that while a patent might protect a specific design or invention, it does not apply to a simple drawing of a circuit board. Louis argues that Tom Evans Audio's claim of copyright infringement was an attempt to stifle competition and prevent others from repairing their devices.

YouTube's Role

Louis Rossmann criticizes YouTube for siding with Tom Evans Audio in this situation. He points out that YouTube has a relationship with Mend It Mark, but not with Tom Evans Audio, and argues that this is not a fair or neutral decision. Louis also suggests that YouTube's default position of favoring the company over the individual is not in line with their stated values.

Defending Free Speech

Louis Rossmann concludes by defending his own actions in reuploading Mark's video to his channel, and challenging Tom Evans Audio to try and take it down. He argues that this is a matter of free speech and fair use, and that he will fight any attempts to censor him.

Final Thoughts

Louis Rossmann ends the video by expressing his hope that Mend It Mark's channel gets more attention as a result of this situation, and that people understand how companies like Tom Evans Audio do business. He also hints at the possibility of reuploading Mark's original video with his blessing in a future video.

AI Transcription

hey everybody how's it going hope you're

having a lovely day a few days ago I did

a video about a gentleman named mended

Mark he does repair videos and he does

excellent repair videos where he takes

apart old gear particularly audio gear

and he shows you how to fix it and he

also works on new audio gear and shows

you how to fix it he's very kind cordial

professional and mild-mannered

man we are not the same but in all

seriousness he's a repair Tech and he's

very good at what he does and he decided

to try and fix this particular phono

preamp that's made by a company called

the Tom Evans to clarify something from

the last video from speaking with Mr

Mark himself this a customer sent this

device to the manufacturer Tom Evans

they got quoted a price that was in the

I don't remember exactly it was

somewhere in the several thousand pounds

range they thought that that was insane

so they requested that this device be

sent to mark for repair from Tom Evans

after it was sent there he fixed it by

replacing that shorted cap which is I

mean you saw his video you can decide

for yourself if you think that that is a

numerous multi thousand pound repair and

then he sent it back to the Happy

customer and after posting that video he

got a copyright claim now if you when

you look into it the reason for it is

what I find really interesting so it's

amazing that you reached out to me about

my repair video that got taken down I've

watched your channel for years so the

fact that you've heard of me is really

cool I'm perfectly happy for you to

share the video especially it's not much

use to me now it's obvious that the

whole purpose is censorship and not

copyright however he may be able to

claim copyright of his website but I

thought that should be fair use I did

reverse engineer it so I could fix it

but I only showed extracts of my

schematic relevant to the repair I

received a cease and desist email from

Tom Evans the manufacturer stating that

their circuits are UK register designs

and if I were to upload them into the

public domain I would be hearing from

his solicitors I assume that that's

England for attorney or something I had

no intention of doing anything else with

my reverse engineered schematics anyway

so I ignored it he did not mention the

video I have searched the UK

intellectual property website for his

Reger designs and he has none just to

clear something up that is not quite

right in the comments on my reaction

video the preamp was originally sent to

the manufacturer for repair by its owner

but it got damaged in the post they

quoted the owner some ridiculous repair

price I think it may have been around

£6,000 but I can't find any evidence but

it was certainly several thousand the

owner was not happy to pay that so

instructed the manufacturer to ship it

to me for repair despite warning the

owner that I would not be able to fix it

so the preamp was shipped to me from the

manufacturer but not that they needed me

to do the work I still don't know what

the copyright infringement was maybe

showing his website but that's a tiny

part of the video YouTube are just

telling me to get my own legal counsil

if I wish to dispute his claim so the

let's let's go through this step by step

here because there are numerous people

that suck in this entire situation this

is something that I am somewhat familiar

with as a repair technician of 15 years

who's consistently uploading videos to

YouTube with schematics and stuff like

that do I need permission to show print

pictures of a printed circuit board of

advice consumer electronics and my

personal blog I would like to show how

certain modifications the product can

look I took some pictures during the

process the sharing is infringing any IP

rights yes you may the layout of the

board and its appearance are not

protected by copyright because they are

not expressions or or any other type of

copyrightable content even if they were

say if some protested artwork was

displayed on the board you are

displaying this for instructional

purposes and not harming any market for

the board so fair use is likely to apply

the device could be protected by Patent

but you are not copying or imitating the

board nor showing anyone how to do so so

that would not apply you are not selling

or advertising the board nor knockoffs

of it so trademark protection would not

apply even if a protected trademark is

visible on the board just in case make

to be sure make clear that your video is

not authorized or endorsed by the maker

of the board which I imagine mended Mark

has made very very obvious you cannot

copyright a a PCB drawing that somebody

else made when you bought the product

you won it and if the owner of that

product decided to send it to Mark then

in for that particular moment he was

authorizing Mark to work on it and while

he's working on this gentleman's

property on behalf of him the person who

owns it he drew a schematic that is not

something you could get somebody for for

copyright now what you could do if you

were a real dick in some way shape or

form you could go into patent law and

you can go back and forth on whether

some sort of patent has been INRI with

regards to a circuit board design but

you cannot say that simply by drawing a

picture of how things are represented

this cap goes to this resistor this

resistor goes to this inductor this

inductor goes to this trans that's not

copyrightable you can't get in trouble

for that the last part of Mark's email

is the part that I find the most sad

YouTube are just telling me to get my

own legal counsel if I wish to dispute

his copyright claim there are a number

of reasons that I find this to be

ridiculous the first is that YouTube has

an existing relationship with mended

Mark they do not have an existing

relationship to anywhere near the lame

level with Tom Evans audio we live in a

world where it is expected that you are

innocent until proven guilty now in the

court of public opinion that's not true

and admittedly when people are making

decisions at a private company that's

not true but you would expect at the

very least even if we're not dealing

with innocent until proven guilty that

you would side potentially at very least

be neutral aside with the person that

you have a relationship with over the

person that you just met for me the

burden of proof is going to be higher

for you the person that I just met if

you are telling me that my best friend

is scamming me if you tell me that my

best friend is a scammer and he's a

screw ball and he's an and I

just met you today I'm not going to go

oh yeah okay never mind you probably

have a point and just delete him from my

phone immediately I'm going to go over

to my best friend and say hey what's

going on over here and at the very least

try to be a neutral Arbiter of what is

going on this doesn't even make business

sense if we were discussing something

like a record label abusing the power or

the MPAA abusing their power you could

say It's Not Right But at the very least

it would make some sort of business

sense why they were doing it this

doesn't make any sense at all and it

demonstrates that whenever possible

YouTube is going to default to making a

decision that is as bad as possible for

the people that make the money and for

the people that utilize and are loyal to

their platform I'm confident enough in

it that I'm going to reupload his video

to my channel and if Tom Evans audio

wants to try and take that video down I

will cost you a lot of money in

legal fees because I'm crazy enough to

actually spend money fighting you

because I hate people like you and I

hope that people like you that try to

bully people that would do humble honest

work on your products to make the world

a better

place have to pay the price of your own

file a false copyright claim on

my channel I dare you and see

how it

goes I spent the last 11 years lobbying

in my business I have a lot of

experience with politicians and lawyers

especially reading the law and fighting

against people that are much bigger than

you it'll be fun to do this one that's

it for today and as always I hope you

learned something and above all I hope

mended Mark's channel gets a lot of

attention as a result of this and I hope

many many many more people understand

exactly how your company does business

as a result of your

decision that's it for today and as

always I'll see you in the next video

which is going to be a re-upload of

Mark's original with his

Blessing so much fun see you next time