Sometimes it can take years to be 'discovered' as actors and comedians and songwriters can attest, and yes, even a singing cat now knows the power of Internet publicity. It's just not for the reasons the cat's owner likely intended.
Phantom and his purring video, first posted on by his owner, Digihaven, on YouTube in March of 2014, is now in the spotlight but not for the reasons Digihaven likely was aiming for when he posted the one-hour clip.
Phantom is now at the center of the ongoing debate regarding copyright and while the feline is no longer being cited as purring someone else's tune, the incident is stirring strong discussion about protection of copyright and the technology supposedly put in place to protect digital rights.
While Phantom or Digihaven isn't being hauled to court regarding the supposed infringement, the episode likely caused the cat owner some consternation as YouTube's Content-ID system recently slammed the video for a 12-second video loop infringement violation. Supposedly a 12-second music clip in the video belongs to PRS and EMI Music Publishing and infringed on a musical composition called 'Focus.' As many reports point out, YouTube's copyright detection system isn't perfect by a long shot and more than a few videos are flagged for inaccurate DMCA violations.
While the clip wasn't pulled off YouTube the monetization aspect was disabled, which apparently had Digihaven a bit befuddled. At the time the video had a scant 3,000 views.
"I'm sure EMI/PRS made Phantom a sad kitty. It seems like companies such as EMI are pirating ads on people's legit videos, so I'm wondering if they apologize to, or reimburse people for those false claims," he told a news outlet.
So Digihaven took action to clear Phantom's name and reputation and shortly after the copyright infringement claim disappeared.
Apparently Digihaven is taking a positive attitude about the whole incident.
"Phantom is currently independent, but looking to sign on with an indie label. Phantom's lawyer filed a complaint, looking for 10 lbs of catnip in damages," Digihaven stated.
By the way the video now has nearly 30,000 views and counting. So maybe Phantom is on his way to becoming an Internet sensation for all the right reasons after all.
Fun factoid: As any cat owner or lover knows well, the Internet is a cat-loving haven, even spawning books on how cat owners can make money by posting cat videos and photos online.
"The key reason why cat memes have been so successful online is that cats can be used to engage intense emotional responses in users. They tend to evoke warmth or hilarity: sometimes both," states Ian Forrester, head of insights at Unruly Media.
Cats, especially cute purring ones, also tend to evoke sympathy when accused of copyright as Phantom's experience has proved.
