Equal Opportunity for ASL Users and Learners

The videos found on my YouTube site, allyballybabe, are of various songs signed in American Sign Language. The YouTube is used for educational purposes all over the world, as well as a bridge between the Deaf and Hearing worlds. Because Deaf people cannot hear music, I sign the song in American Sign Language (ASL) so that they can understand the lyrics. I do not transform the message, I just use ASL to communicate the lyrics. I am not making any money off of this procedure. I believe that it is every person's right to experience the emotions and meaning of different songs, and what other way is there to do that, but convey the lyrics in a beautiful, lyrical language as ASL. In each video, I give copyright credit to each artist and blatantly state that I do not take credit for anything. I am merely allowing the Deaf community to have equal experiences as the rest of us. I believe it is important that we remember that everyone in America has equal opportunity, however, how can equal opportunity be given when there is no resource for Deaf people to go to? Signing these songs in ASL helps me in my educational career, as well as students in classes that are learning ASL. I am signing these songs to help the Deaf community become connected with the music world. Since they cannot hear, I use ASL to convey the meaning of the song so Deaf people can understand it. It is also used for my practice, as I am minoring in Interpreting and majoring in Deaf Education. Signing this song also allows sign language teachers over the nation to use the songs in their classes for educational purposes, and therefore introducing the song to students. Many of my viewers have expressed that they have never heard the song before, and they love it, so they went and bought the CD, or downloaded the song from iTunes. Signing videos in ASL can only help the music industry to allow the Deaf community to have an equal love of music (and lyrics) as the hearing community. I also write in each video that I am not claiming the content, and I'm not making any money off of it. Due to these educational uses and furthering the market for the music industry, I feel that my videos should not be removed. Many teachers and students have sent me messages begging me not to remove my videos, because they want to use them in their schools to introduce music to Deaf students, and/or they are Deaf themselves and have never found an appreciation of music, until they saw the lyrics signed in their own language and with meaning and emotion. Songs are much more than just music and lyrics, the emotion and meaning behind each song is critical in understanding, and with ASL being used as expressively conveying the lyrics and meaning, a wider audience is able to be reached, thus benefiting the artist and their music, not me.

It is my plea that I ask that my YouTube account not be deleted, as many of my viewers have found inspiration, and identity through my videos. It is also my plea that WMG (Warner Music Group) will allow me to sign these songs continuously, to benefit them and their artists, and allow people worldwide to experience the beauty and passion of American Sign Language.