Peshay leads fight against “copyright abuse” following legendary mix takedowns

A Change.org petition was launched by Pye and Peshay earlier this month, calling for an end to “abusive copyright strikes on legacy music”. As well as linking to a video showing Shazam-based evidence that ‘Links’ was created by The Chameleon, aka Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton, the petition calls for penalties to be given for repeated fraudulent copyright claims, and for reforms to YouTube’s counter-notification process. At the time of writing, the petition has been signed over 2,300 times. 

Sykes is alleged to have also targeted Pye and Peshay’s Change.org petition, filing a claim that both it and the attached video infringed on his copyright and promoted a “boycott” of his social media accounts. In a takedown notice from Google seen by DJ Mag, he wrote: “This user is using my music without my permission — that is copyrighted, by the way — and he is using Change.org to get my social media accounts taken down illegally.”

The video was temporarily removed by Google, though was later reinstated, and Pye was temporarily required to remove any mention of Sykes from the petition with Change.org citing the “content was flagged by one or more users who believed it was potentially problematic.” This has since been reversed. 

A post shared to Peshay’s social media regarding this matter stated: “Change.org has forced us to redact public facts about the dispute, despite no infringement. We have never and would never advocate anyone boycotting anything. We certainly would also never want to suggest anything that is misleading.”

As of 20th May, Peshay’s mix has been reinstated. However, in communication with DJ Mag, Pye warned that, pending evidence from Sykes, YouTube could remove the video again. According to Pye, the mix was restored because Sykes’ takedown request was incomplete. “This explanation makes it clear they’ll remove it again if he refiles,” he said.

Peshay told DJ Mag that this situation reveals “the very heart of the problem”. He added: “Platforms value process over truth. Legacy artists can’t rebuild their work every time a bad actor files paperwork.”