Where can I backup all of my MP3s online without them being removed due to copyright?

whirlpool · 21-03-2011 01:41PM #1

I purchased a premium 4shared account and have uploaded 20gb of music to it. I have my entire 4shared folder set to "not share." However, now what's happening is that mp3s are being added to an "abuse" folder by 4shared, which means that I have to delete these mp3s from my account and they can't be used.

So far this has been done to five mp3s. Have I wasted my money AND all my time with this?? Are they going to keep doing it to all my files?

My main question is this: Where can I upload my files online where they won't be considered breaking copyright laws?!

Voodu Child · 21-03-2011 02:26PM

More than likely someone else has uploaded the same file and then shared the links.

That's how most upload sites work, if you upload something that is already on the server they don't store two copies, that would be a waste of space. They store one copy and you both have access to it. They use some kind of checksum to identify if a file is already on the server. Then, if the other person shares the links and they are reported for violation, your file will obviously be affected also because it is the same thing.

The solution is to make sure what you upload is completely unique, that nobody else could possibly have something with the same checksum.

whirlpool · 21-03-2011 02:40PM

Okay. Thanks for explaining that to me.

So, I can't ever backup MP3s online? It is fairly unavoidable that others are going to have the same MP3s. I'm not exactly uploading the music of sort of obscure underground Russian folk band that nobody else will know about.

Does anyone know of any sites where this won't happen?

Kazuma · 21-03-2011 03:03PM

An easy enough solution (that would hopefully work) would be to zip your mp3s - either on their own or in a big file, depending on how easily you'd like to download them again.
That should make them register as unique files

whirlpool · 21-03-2011 03:09PM

Hey, thanks for the suggestion. It might come to that alright, but for a few reasons I want to avoid having to do that until absolutely necessary.

Voodu Child · 21-03-2011 03:09PM

whirlpool wrote: »

Okay. Thanks for explaining that to me.

So, I can't ever backup MP3s online? It is fairly unavoidable that others are going to have the same MP3s. I'm not exactly uploading the music of sort of obscure underground Russian folk band that nobody else will know about.

Does anyone know of any sites where this won't happen?

Its not about other people having the same music. Its about other people having the exact same file, 100% identical down to the byte when compared with some kind of file verification.

If you are ripping your own CDs, doing your own naming and metadata, putting them in your own folders etc, then that is just not going to happen.

Whereas if you are grabbing an iTunes download or torrent that a million other people have and uploading it unchanged then obviously its very possible that your file will be the same as someone elses. And if that person's file gets reported for copyright violation, yours will be flagged too.

whirlpool · 21-03-2011 03:11PM

Voodu Child wrote: »

Its not about other people having the same music. Its about other people having the exact same file, 100% identical down to the byte when compared with some kind of file verification.

If you are ripping your own CDs, doing your own naming and metadata, putting them in your own folders etc, then that is just not going to happen.

Whereas if you are grabbing an iTunes download or torrent that a million other people have and uploading it unchanged then obviously its very possible that your file will be the same as someone elses. And if that person's file gets reported for copyright violation, yours will be flagged too.

Each and every one of the mp3s I've uploaded has been converted to the same format, re-tagged and re-named by me. Every single one.

Voodu Child · 21-03-2011 03:24PM

whirlpool wrote: »

Each and every one of the mp3s I've uploaded has been converted to the same format, re-tagged and re-named by me. Every single one.

Well in that case they should not have the same checksum as other uploads.

So I don't know how they could come to be reported or flagged as copyrighted. Are you sure they are not being shared?

Looking at the site, it has a search engine and hence it seems aimed towards file sharing rather than personal backup. I would not use it.

whirlpool · 21-03-2011 03:29PM

Voodu Child wrote: »

Well in that case they should not have the same checksum as other uploads.

So I don't know how they could come to be reported or flagged as copyrighted. Are you sure they are not being shared?

Looking at the site, it has a search engine and hence it seems aimed towards file sharing rather than personal backup. I would not use it.

Well they shouldn't be being shared because I have chosen the "Do Not Share" option. However, this hasn't stopped the files from being deleted due to copyright.

That's why I need an alternative to this site; which is a bit annoying since I've already paid for a year's subscription. I have emailed them and waiting on a response.

In the meantime, I still need recommendations for an alternative where I will not have this problem. So if anybody has any suggestions....

Thanks.

bonzodog2 · 21-03-2011 04:23PM

Zip each album up together, with a password and no compression (faster;mp3 already compressed...)

whirlpool · 21-03-2011 04:26PM

bonzodog2 wrote: »

Zip each album up together, with a password and no compression (faster;mp3 already compressed...)

Thanks; can I give the zip file the name of the album? Or would that result in it being found and marked as copyright infringement still?

bonzodog2 · 21-03-2011 05:14PM

Try it, or change some letters, e.g change letter O to digit 0 etc

whirlpool · 21-03-2011 07:16PM

bonzodog2 wrote: »

Try it, or change some letters, e.g change letter O to digit 0 etc

Thanks for the suggestion. But I will need something certain. It takes a lot of time and effort to upload 60gb of music, never mind sorting out zipping them first and then uploading them. So I need a solution which is 150% going to work

If anybody who hasn't already read and/or replied-to this thread has any suggestions of sites that provide private file storage - preferably a site you yourself use for storing MP3s - I'd appreciate it. Thanks...

MASTER...of the bra · 21-03-2011 10:46PM

Why online and not an external harddrive??

kippy · 21-03-2011 10:50PM

MASTER...of the bra wrote: »

Why online and not an external harddrive??

Thats what I asked myself.....
http://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-Store-Flash-ReadyBoost-97005/dp/B000BMZOBM/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1300747764&sr=1-7
Two of them (if you are uber worried about losing the music) - one offiste, the other on your keyring.
You may even pick them up cheaper than that.

21-03-2011 11:17PM

Amazon S3 is what you need. It's the could storage network that services like Dropbox use. Not only is it extremely reliable (99.999999999% redundancy), but it's also very cheap. You'll start out on their free tier, which lasts one year. Even after that it'll only cost you a few cents to a few euro to store all you'll need (take a look at their pricing). If you don't mind having a lower level of redundancy you can use their Reduced Redundancy Storage, which costs about half as much as Standard Storage. What's nice is that you only pay for what you use, and there's no limit to what you can use.

Use something like Cloudberry Explorer to upload to and download from your buckets.

Nothingbetter2d · 22-03-2011 12:57AM

best option is to setup a cheap pc with a decent hard drive...then setup an ftp account and using dynamic dns have the ip address auto matched to a url.

then u can log onto your own pc from anywhere in the world.

Overheal · 22-03-2011 06:20AM

when i was younger i eh, hid some things on my family computer. Anyway. I took the folder of, files, and I Zipped them. Then, I canged the File Extension to I think .gcf or something, something that was a filetype for video game textures. Didn't expect anybody to look too hard. And they didnt! Even though those textures would have been much higher resolutions than your average game texture back in those days...

I use to be younger but I was always a class-A nerd.

Zip the files, password protect them, then change the file extenstion. To retrieve them later, change the file extension back and you won't have broken the password protection or anything on them.

When I scan an archive as a .rar my antivirus detects all of its 25 or so items. When I changed the extension to .llk (or any of a number of random extensions you can try) it only scanned 2 items.

Cabaal · 22-03-2011 08:02AM

Your not using a backup service your using a site thats designed for sharing so they think you intend to share those files even if you are not sharing them now.

If you require a backup service then use http://www.backblaze.com or mozy.com

whirlpool · 22-03-2011 10:01AM

MASTER...of the bra wrote: »

Why online and not an external harddrive??

1) Can't afford one.
2) I have one and it has failed.
3) I don't want to have to carry a hard drive while travelling.

whirlpool · 22-03-2011 10:02AM

-JammyDodger- wrote: »

Amazon S3 is what you need. It's the could storage network that services like Dropbox use. Not only is it extremely reliable (99.999999999% redundancy), but it's also very cheap. You'll start out on their free tier, which lasts one year. Even after that it'll only cost you a few cents to a few euro to store all you'll need (take a look at their pricing). If you don't mind having a lower level of redundancy you can use their Reduced Redundancy Storage, which costs about half as much as Standard Storage. What's nice is that you only pay for what you use, and there's no limit to what you can use.

Use something like Cloudberry Explorer to upload to and download from your buckets.

This sounds pretty damn fantastic. Thank you! I will check it out and report back!

whirlpool · 22-03-2011 10:04AM

Cabaal wrote: »

Your not using a backup service your using a site thats designed for sharing so they think you intend to share those files even if you are not sharing them now.

If you require a backup service then use http://www.backblaze.com or mozy.com

I understand what you're saying.

At the same time, they sold me the service as a backup service. I'm going to have a look at the sign-up process again to see where it says my files will be shared even if I have chosen the "do not share" option.

kippy · 22-03-2011 01:26PM

1) Can't afford one. - Will probably work out cheaper than an annual subscription for 60 odd gigs (I doubt you will get 60 gigs anywhere over a few years cheaper than a couple of USB keys)
2) I have one and it has failed. (If one fails you shouldnt have a problem as you have a copy of it on your own hard drive - if you want to be double careful buy two)
3) I don't want to have to carry a hard drive while travelling (Carry a USB Key instead - capacities up to 256GB - expensive are available)
Online backup and retrieval of this kind of stuff is not without its risks as you have found.

Where can I backup all of my MP3s online without them being removed due to copyright?

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