Streisand effect: Dispute over repair video of expensive phono amplifier
After a Youtuber repaired an expensive phono preamplifier on camera, the manufacturer had the video blocked. The shitstorm follows hot on the heels.
Not the subject of this YouTube drama: a record player.
(Image: Morrowind/Shutterstock.com)
Like all stories that revolve around the Streisand effect, this one inevitably begins quite harmlessly: with a video by British Youtuber and full-time electronics engineer Mark Maher, aka "Mend It Mark", in which he repairs a phono preamplifier "Mastergroove SR Mk III" from Welsh manufacturer Tom Evans Audio due to a humming sound. The only thing worth noting at first is that the device, which cost around 25,000 pounds sterling (around 30,280 euros), arrived at Maher's with transport damage and in a correspondingly miserable condition and that the actual manufacturer had previously refused to repair it under warranty.
Mark Maher gets to work, but encounters a problem: there are no circuit diagrams available, and the type designations of various components have been removed by the manufacturer. This is not entirely unusual, as it is particularly difficult and expensive for small manufacturers to patent circuits; imitators can threaten their existence. Even in the devices of large suppliers, it is therefore not uncommon to find components that have been rendered unrecognizable or completely encapsulated in opaque plastic. But Maher is not discouraged by this and uses reverse engineering to produce a document with the circuit diagrams of the individual assemblies, which can be seen briefly several times in the video. This enabled him to find and rectify the fault.
Alleged copyright infringement
So far, so unspectacular – There are plenty of repair videos of this kind on YouTube, many of which hardly attract any attention. To Maher's surprise, however, his video has been viewed around 250,000 times in two and a half weeks – and the manufacturer of the "Mastergroove SR Mk III" is furious. Tom Evans reports Maher's film for alleged copyright infringement, whereupon YouTube deletes the video. Maher's immediate problem is the sudden loss of a video on his channel and the resulting lack of income. "The most sensible thing I could do in this situation was to make a short video explaining why my last video had disappeared," explains the Youtuber.
He published the second video on December 6, 2024 – and set off an avalanche. Complainant Evans faces massive criticism and ridicule from other Youtubers, with around a dozen other channels currently uploading Maher's original post. US-American Louis Rossmann, who for his part has been repairing on camera for years and doesn't mince his words when it comes to manufacturers, adds a small opening credit to Maher's video in which he gives Evans the finger: "What makes you think I'm afraid to mess with you?"
In short: classic Streisand effect. Tom Evans, who was previously hardly known even in high-end circles, receives negative publicity, Maher describes "the side effect of my channel growing rapidly".
Contradictory statements
Critics believe that Tom Evans was particularly annoyed that Maher's video revealed what was really behind the £25,000 phono preamplifier. Because "Mend it Mark" smugly described in front of the camera what he saw in front of the soldering iron: components secured with glue, 16 in total, and circuit boards that had been fixed in a makeshift manner or creatively soldered together using rather delicate plastic spacers. All of this was more reminiscent of a prototype than a commercial product. The housing of the "Mastergroove SR Mk III" also looks rather plain – Tom Evans Audio apparently uses cardboard strips as dampers between the corner pillars and the acrylic plates. Pictures of an acrylic glass version of the device can be found in a British forum – and give an impression of its construction.
When asked, Tom Evans told heise online that Maher had overlooked an important point in his presentation. He had not only had the YouTube video blocked because Maher had reverse-engineered his circuits. Maher had also created a file and offered it on his website for a fee. Evans emphasized that his lawyers had also documented this. Maher contradicted this statement to heise online. The matter does not yet appear to be legally over.
Maher offers access to his "community" with tutorials, workshops, circuit diagrams and other content on his website for a year in return for payment of just under 250 pounds. In the controversial video, Maher says at the end: "If you're interested in how I reverse-engineered this, there's a workshop on it in the 'Mend it like Mark' community."
Tricky situation
Generally speaking, circuit diagrams can hardly be protected by copyright – It would only become legally tricky for copyists if they were to use their competitors' technology unchanged in their own devices. The manufacturer's website, which is visible for a few moments in Maher's video and in which the manufacturer reports that it can only build ten units of this phono preamplifier per year, is hardly relevant in terms of copyright.
YouTube defends its approach to reported copyright infringements and refers to the legal situation: "YouTube does not mediate copyright infringement reports – This is a matter for the parties involved." Tom Evans left the question unanswered as to whether he also intends to take legal action against the various uploads of Maher's video.
If the relevant magazines are to be trusted, Evans' phono preamps should actually sound excellent. When searching for the product in search engines, unflattering entries now pop up: "A ÂŁ25,000 embarrassment" or "ÂŁ25,000 preamp gone astray".
(nij)
