The God Culture: Attempted Copyright Takedown

Over several lengthy blog posts I have taken up The God Culture's challenge to test them to see if what they are saying is true.  In each post I have documented that they are in fact not telling the truth.  They have manipulated sources, copy/pasted from other people's research and blogs, discussed at length texts (Dionysius Perigeretes for example) as if they had read them but in fact have not, and that their whole paradigm is false and unfounded with no legitimate historian or historical maps and documents to back them up. I have also peppered each post with screenshots from their videos to illustrate their views.

What has been The God Culture's response? They cry out in pain even as they strike me. That is to say they post comment after whiny comment insisting I have proven nothing and accusing me of libel and breaking the law all the while impugning my motives and character. They accuse me of that which they are guilty which is one of the oldest propaganda tricks in the book.

But that is not all.  Behind the scenes they have been attempting to use the law to bring down my exposés.

https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/search?utf8=✓&sender_name=The+God+Culture&sender_name-require-all=true&sort_by=

There are actually seven DMCA complaints that The God Culture has filed against this blog.  DMCA means Digital Millennium Copyright Act. They have accused me of using copyrighted material and wish to have it removed.  Here are their complaints in order from top to bottom:

1. "Lost Tribes of Israel in the Philippines" copyrighted slide from our copyrighted YouTube video including our Trademarked logo without authorization. 

2. Trademarked logo is used first by itself and that is ILLEGAL. Then, multiple copyrighted slides. This guy is one big copyright infringement with no regard for the law. He then commits libel, gross negligence, fraud, harassment and bullying to name a few. Disgusting! 

3. "Balangay" copyrighted slide from our YouTube video and several others. All our videos are legally copyrighted and all content as well as our Trademarked logo to which this blogger has no permission to use. Plus he uses our personal images as well as others without our permission. 

4. "Philippine Gold in Ancient Egypt" slide from our copyrighted YouTube videos along with our trademarked logo is being used without our permission. 

5."Isle of Chryse" slide from our copyrighted YouTube video with Trademarked logo used without our permission. 

6. "Who lived in Qumran? Essenes." copyrighted slide from our YouTube video with our trademarked logo without our permission. 

7. "100 Clues the Philippines is Ophir" copyrighted slide from our copyrighted YouTube video including trademarked logo without our permission.

Copyrighted slides?  These people are so stupid that they think using screenshots of their videos infringes on their copyright.  However on every single one of their videos we find the following disclaimer:

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

There it is. By their own admission I am perfectly within my rights to use screenshots of their videos as I criticize and comment on them.  

I found out The God Culture has filed these complaints because Google sent an email notifying me that a claim had been made against me.  That is ONE claim out of seven making its way to me. That means even Google knows The God Culture's  DMCA complaints are without merit.

Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog is alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others. As a result, we have reset the post(s) to "draft" status. (If we did not do so, we would be subject to a claim of copyright infringement, regardless of its merits. The URL(s) of the allegedly infringing post(s) may be found at the end of this message.) This means your post - and any images, links or other content - is not gone. You may edit the post to remove the offending content and republish, at which point the post in question will be visible to your readers again. 

A bit of background: the DMCA is a United States copyright law that provides guidelines for online service provider liability in case of copyright infringement. If you believe you have the rights to post the content at issue here, you can file a counter-claim. In order to file a counter-claim, please see https://support.google.com/legal/contact/lr_counternotice?product=blogger. 

The notice that we received, with any personally identifying information removed, will be posted online by a service called Lumen at https://www.lumendatabase.org. We do this in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). You can search for the DMCA notice associated with the removal of your content by going to the Lumen page, and entering in the URL of the blog post that was removed. 

If it is brought to our attention that you have republished the post without removing the content/link in question, then we will delete your post and count it as a violation on your account. Repeated violations to our Terms of Service may result in further remedial action taken against your Blogger account including deleting your blog and/or terminating your account. DMCA notices concerning content on your blog may also result in action taken against any associated AdSense accounts. If you have legal questions about this notification, you should retain your own legal counsel. 

Sincerely, 

The Blogger Team 

Affected URLs:
http://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-god-culture-dishonestly-edited.html

For some reason Google neglected to inform me of what material on the page is alleged to be infringing The God Culture's copyright. I am not going to wager a guess either.

I of course filed a counter-claim and Google responded thusly:

As described in 17 U.S.C. 512(g), we will forward the counter notification to the complainant. If we do not receive notice from the complainant that they have brought an action in the district court within 14 days, we will reinstate the material in question on Blogger. We appreciate your patience in this process. 

Regards,

The Google Team

Is The God Culture really going to file a suit in US District Court? Over screenshots which even they admit are perfectly fine and legal? No they aren't.

These people are amazing. Instead of going head to head in the blogosphere or the vlogosphere they have decided to use the law to shut me up. That is very dirty. It is also very Filipino. Recall Gaspar de San Augustin writing in 1720 about the character of Filipinos.

50. They are revengeful to an excessive degree—so much so that they are vile and cowardly; and the ministers have great trouble in reconciling them with their enemies; and although they do it through fear, it is never with the whole heart, for this passion has great influence over them. And since they need magnanimity and manliness to overcome it, and these virtues are foreign to them, hate generally forces its roots into them so deeply that it is impossible to eradicate it in a whole lifetime.

This is the reason why they are so inclined to litigation, and to going before the audiencias and courts with their quarrels, in which they willingly spend their possessions for the sole purpose of making others spend theirs and of causing them harm and trouble. For that they are even wont to pledge their sons and daughters.

http://www.philippinehistory.net/views/1720sanagustinb.htm

Here we see this 300 year old observation in full swing today. It's understandable they want to remove my presence from the internet.  A Google search for The God Culture has this blog on the very first page of results.

The God Culture is so worried and paranoid about my blog that they have left the following disclaimer on several of their Youtube videos.

The God Culture is not affiliated with any other YouTube Channel nor any organization. If you see our logo or slides being used or even reloading of our videos on another channel, this is without our permission and illegal. If you hear another channel claiming affiliation in any sense, they are being untruthful. Always seek out The God Culture logo from The God Culture YouTube Channel as we have no other. The same with our Facebook, The God Culutre - Original is our only Facebook and we have no affiliation with any other. Though some are valid followers, others are attempting to mix in their communist propaganda with our findings which they screw up every time. That is the manner in which satan has operated for thousands of years and he most certainly is using them as well. Beware these channels as they will lead you away from Yahuah and into slavery which is their intent.

That is clearly a warning against me.  Are they are too scared to even mention the name of this blog?

If using screenshots of their videos infringes on their copyrights then what about these videos The God Culture has posted using copyrighted material which does not belong to them?


Is using footage from the Museum of the Bible's video Experience the Bible  in their video "BOOK OF JUBILEES: Scripture? Inspired? What does the Bible Say? Enoch, Jasher, Dead Sea Scrolls" a violation of copyright?

https://youtu.be/ehXPBXwIxio

It is only by playing the video full screen that the tiny text in the corner becomes anywhere near legible.

"Editorial Use Only" in small font. "The views of this video are in no way associated with the Museum of the Bible" in minuscule font!  If The God Culture is so scrupulous about protecting copyrights why would they write this disclaimer in an illegible font? How does "Editorial use only" absolve them from a copyright claim? According to them the bare use should be enough for a lawsuit.

How about this next video using the poster for the animated film Elcano and Magellan?

https://youtu.be/RaygO6E5ZKw

Is this violating someone's copyright?  Does the small text which blends into the background and reads:

"With commentary on "Elcano and Magellan" film poster for editorial use only per fair use"

absolve The God Culture of any legal problems? How about this next video?

https://youtu.be/4K4vALpt4Fw

Is using the Dolittle movie poster without a disclaimer to promote their video asserting that animals did in fact used to talk, which is one reason among many why the Book of Jubilees is pure nonsense, violating someone's copyright?  

Definitely using Kyle Jennerman's entire video minus 30 seconds sure is a violation of copyright. 

https://youtu.be/2wOr9SHludQ

Especially when you take into consideration that this video is monetized!

The God Culture is making money off Kyle Jennerman's video! What a bunch of hypocrites!

The God Culture, including their leader Timothy Jay Schwab, are an intellectually bankrupt "group" who cannot beat me in the arena of words and facts so they resort to the law hoping to shut me down. I use the word group lightly because there has been no evidence that they are in fact a group. No names, photos, or anything else proving the existence of a team of researchers has surfaced. Despite this lack of evidence The God Culture continues to insist they are a team and even left the following comment recently:

Tim does not conduct all research himself as we are a team and likely one of us just sent him the link to the source which is support for maps we already had. We represented the reference exactly as it is written and no, we do not require going deeper to confirm something that matches maps we already have for a YouTube video.

http://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-god-culture-finding-chryse-dont.html?showComment=1586669466549#c8528961852138070263

This was in response to my assertion that Tim had used a source thirdhand from J.G. Cheock. If they are a team and Tim was sent the link then he did not take the time to do as he tells us and "confirm all things." That is bad teamwork. If Tim took that source from Cheock himself, as I believe is the case, then he is lazy and dishonest. Either way this comment does not put Tim or The God Culture in a good light.

There is also no evidence that The God Culture has been engaged in "deep research including history, geography, archeology, science, language, etc." Rather than investigating various archeological sites in the Philippines or poring over primary sources in their original languages (be it Hebrew, Greek, Italian, Spanish, French, or English) which have been kept hidden away in musty libraries The God Culture has instead mined the internet for material. You cannot do archeology by surfing the web. Schliemann did not find Troy just by reading books.  He went out and dug in the ground. If the Philippines is Ophir that evidence can be dug out of the ground just like Nineveh, Ur, and Babylon were dug out of the desert. Is Tim going out to dig for Ophir anytime soon? No, he is not.

The God Culture has liberally used AncientPhilippines, Wikipedia, and other blogs as sources without bothering to even check if those websites are using the sources they cite correctly. Again and agin they quote sources second and third hand with no concern for digging up the primary sources. They have utilized some scholarly material by authors like Thomas Suarez and Charles Nowell but dismiss whatever conclusions do not fit their thesis as being the work of unscholarly agents blinded by a false paradigm and spouting the Rothschild line.

Timothy Jay Schwab openly admits his disdain for scholars and academia in general in many of his videos. His disregard for scholarly methods reveals itself in his clumsy methods such as claiming that because a Tagalog word sounds like a Hebrew word that means it has a Hebrew origin. Or because Magellan claimed he was going to find Ophir he actually did find it when he landed in the Philippines.

That is not deep research. That is quote mining to affirm preconceived notions. Everything The God Culture has to say is a claim with no proof except whatever quotes they have harvested from dubious corners of the internet. They gather a lot of circumstantial evidence, throw it at the unsuspecting listener with a lot of bluster, and claim they have proven their thesis. They then tell the listener to test and see if they are correct. 

Pray tell how is anyone really supposed to test the claims they make? How is anyone supposed to test what direction the Israelites took when they wandered off? How is anyone supposed to test and see if the underwater sea trenches are the rivers of Eden?  How is anyone supposed to test and see if the Dead Sea Scrolls are really the library of John the Baptist? How is anyone supposed to test and see if Chryse is Luzon? What are the methods to test such claims? The fact is you CANNOT TEST those kinds of things. You can gather evidence and make claims that best fit the evidence but you cannot test them in the same way you can perform a science experiment in your kitchen. Tim's untestable historical claims are not unlike those made by Neil deGrasse Tyson who makes claims about what happened on earth billions of years ago when no one was around. Not to mention Tim constantly resorts to conspiracy theories which make many of his claims unfalsifiable or untestable and epistemically irrational. If there has been a conspiracy to cover up the truth about the Philippines then how does he know that? He can't because it's been covered up!

The best one can do is look up their sources and see if they say what The God Culture claims. Sadly it appears that I am the only one who has actually taken up their challenge with any seriousness but when I point out all their errors they scream out in rage and post nonsense in the comment section. I am called a communist agitator, a demon, a yellowtard, ignorant, libelous, and a fool. They say we are done with you and will not be responding.  Then they respond again and again.

An actual photograph of The God Culture representative who comments on this blog

Believe it or not there is a lot more to say not just about The God Culture but also about the fake history of the Philippines being Ophir. There is a lot of literature on the subject. Some of it new, some of it centuries old. I think it bears looking at because in our time there is a whole industry pushing this line that the Philippines is Ophir and Filipinos are part of the Lost Tribes of Israel. It is not merely a lunatic fringe like The God Culture pushing this narrative but includes respectable people like Sofroni Dulay who is the Grand Patriarch of the Royal Houses of the Philippines and a Roman Catholic.

There is a thread that links The God Culture directly to Pedro Paterno and his blatantly false history of the Philippines. Did you know he invented a pseudo-Christian Filipino religion that he claimed existed before the arrival of the Spanish and that it is largely based on codes allegedly found within the letters of the ancient Baybayin script? The God Culture whole-heartedly endorses that nonsense.

https://youtu.be/7pmGkSWsIbo

In this video Timothy Schwab identifies Bathala with Yahweh (or as Tim calls Him Yahuah). He also shows how the Baybayin spelling for Bathala allegedly contains a hidden code.

Tim could never say this with a straight face unless he denies the doctrine of the Trinity.

"In EVERY SENSE the creator God of Genesis." EVERY SENSE?? With this blasphemous statement Tim has denied the Trinity. The creation of the world is the act of the triune God and not a monad or singular God such as Bathala. Colossians 1:16-17 tells us Jesus Christ created the world and sustains it by his power. Jesus Christ is not Bathala. It just prompts more questions about Tim's beliefs and teaching concerning the Trinity and Jesus Christ.

There is a lot in that video which merits discussing but it will have to be passed over for now. Listening to Tim speak one can hear echoes of Paterno and his fake Bathalismo religion. I want to trace this link to the best of my ability. A lot of it is connected with the propaganda and nationalist movements of the late nineteenth century which resonate even until today. Filipinos are still a people without a past thanks to colonialism and the dreams of Ophir are quite seductive. This is exactly what I pointed out in my very first post about The God Culture.

What if you were part of a people group who have been essentially colonised for 500 years and have practically lost all real sense of culture from before that time? What if someone came along and said, "You have been lied to all this while and I can give you the answers to who you are"? Don't you think those people would prick up their ears and listen?

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-god-culture-philippines-is-garden.html

Right now with the country on lockdown I cannot visit any libraries or order the books I need so it will be some time before any real fruit on this subject is born. There is a lot of work to be done including reading the available documents and sifting them all for similarities in substance and sources. There is also The God Culture whose videos must be closely searched for what sources they use and then following them to where they lead back.

I also cannot do this alone.  That is why I have assembled a team of researchers.

These good boys are very loyal and will fetch me anything I need. Together we can do it!

Update:

I published this post with the full confidence knowing The God Culture would not be filing any lawsuit in US District Court and I was correct.  I just received the following email on April 30th from Google:

Hello, 

In accordance with the DMCA, we have completed processing your counter notice and we have reinstated the content in question. 

This post has been restored in draft version. You will need to sign into your account and republish it. Please let us know if we can assist you further. 

Regards,

The Google team

So there you go. The God Culture is all bluster. They talk the talk but have nothing to back it up.