EPISODE TWO: THE BATTLE WITH PUBLIC CENSORSHIP
VOICELESS: Yaz gagged in Abduction, only to be gagged again when someone tried to steal her film
The challenges I faced in releasing and publicising Abduction were monolithic. Like many independent female artists who utilise eroticism in their work, I have dealt with censorship across social media platforms for years, and the release of this project was no different.
However, with Abduction, I faced a whole new level of resistance to my work — and what it represents in our society — that pushed the limits of systemic censorship and included illegal attempts to steal the copyright and ownership of the entirety of the film.
There has long been a grey area with the use of eroticism in art. Ultimately, the issue comes down to who gets to profit from and benefit from the usage, display, and objectification of women and their sexuality.
When a corporation, generally with men at the helm of power, profits from this commodification of female sexuality, there is typically little to no censorship within the realms of art and entertainment. However, when a woman has reclaimed her power and wields it through the use of eroticism in her work on her terms, she is ultimately punished via censorship and ostracisation.
As a woman, I am objectified by virtue of my existence. It has been this way since the first time I was called a slut at the tender age of 12 years old simply because of the way I look.
This was something my innocent naive adolescent self could not wrap my head around, considering I dressed modestly and had never even held hands with someone romantically, let alone engaged in any form of sexual activity.
YAZ AS PERSEPHONE the maiden, wearing Dark Garden Alexandra Corset and matching skirt
This is an inaccurate typecasting that has followed me my entire life. So much so that my first record, Inferno, was almost entirely about the demonisation of female sexuality in our society, and served as a rallying cry against this paradigm.
It is a revolutionary act for a woman to reclaim her sexuality in a world that tells her that she belongs to everyone but herself. And it is an act of near treason for her to recognise her power, to reclaim it through the rejection of self-censorship, and to beat the system at its own game.
I have often said that I am the author of my own objectification. And in that, I am able to take control of the ways in which I have been dehumanised and reduced to a sex object designed solely for consumption by others.
However, the level of retribution I have faced
as a result of my reclamation of power through creating Abduction has been staggering.
Beyond the typical issues of censorship across social media platforms for ‘nudity and sexual content’ — both of which are things Abduction does not contain in any way, shape or form — my film also faced attempted copyright theft on YouTube.
This was instigated via a fraudulent copyright claim by a deranged individual who claimed that the entirety of the film belonged to him, shortly after Abduction hit 100,000 views on the platform in June of this year.
Normally YouTube copyright claims are an issue of what are known in the United States as ‘fair use’ violations, where someone using another party’s work under ‘fair usage’ terms is then hit with a copyright claim. However, this was not the case with Abduction.
HOSPITAL TABLE scene representing one of the ordeals that inspired Yaz’s Abduction film
I own the entirety of Abduction. Not only is the film based on my lived experience and my original story, but it is my footage, my ideas, and entirely my creation that was brought to life — with the help of my incredible cast and crew.
The film is my intellectual property and I have sole ownership of it in the eyes of the law.
But YouTube does not have any form of pre-emptive copyright verification in place for those who upload videos to the platform. Nor is there any system of protection against fraudulent copyright claims in place for independent artists and creators.
Upon receiving the fraudulent claim for Abduction, YouTube proceeded to take down my video immediately without notifying me, and hit my channel with a copyright violation strike (which was almost laughable considering I own the video in its entirety.)
I was then given a choice: either to file a counter-claim and begin formal legal proceedings against the copyright claimant, or to allow my film to be stolen.
I started legal proceedings immediately and filed a counter-suit. I spent the next three weeks dealing with the back and forth of YouTube’s claims system until the video was finally reinstated. Although my work was fraudulently and illegally stolen, I was ‘lucky’.
Many creators on YouTube find their work in an indefinite limbo upon filing a claim, sometimes waiting months or even years to have their work reinstated, and in some cases even losing their work forever.
EPISODE THREE: TRIUMPH OVER ALL
BACK IN CONTROL: Yaz and Abduction Hellhounds, a reminder to would-be thieves of who’s the boss?
Despite all of these obstacles, the release of Abduction has ultimately been a success.
The film has screened at various festivals across the globe including Austin’s aGLIFF Prism Film Festival and the Seattle Erotic Art Festival.
At the time of publication of this article, it has notched up more than 250,000 views and more than 3.5 million impressions on YouTube.
As a result, it has achieved monetisation status on YouTube, which means it is now deemed commercially successful — a major success for a film that has fought for the right to exist in every arena.
Beyond these professional accolades, the impact the film has had on other people is what has been most impactful for me.
I have received countless messages from people around the globe praising the film
and talking about how they now feel less alone in their experiences as a result of watching it. Above all else, this is why I do what I do as an artist, and is what motivates and inspires me more than anything else to continue creating.
As artists, we may not be able to change the systems that seek to restrict and censor us singlehandedly, but we can break the doors and walls within us that tell us that our authentic truth is too much and not enough.
It is through sharing our truth through our work that we can inspire and change the world, and it is our job to reclaim our power and do so. — YAZ
YAZ LINKS
youtube/yaz/abduction
youtube/yazxmusic
theyazcollective.com
linktr.ee/yazxmusic
thefetishistas/april/yaz/interview/review
EDITOR’S NOTE: Yaz’s Abduction has been submitted for inclusion in this year’s London Fetish Film Festival, initially planned for October 11-13 but moved to December 13-15. Filmmakers who submitted entries for LFFF 2024 must now wait until November 20 to hear if they’ve been selected. Naturally we hope Yaz’s film will be chosen for screening to this London festival’s audience. But you can also watch Abduction below, right now!
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