diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3e2044c..2259367 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -112,10 +112,10 @@ The Request object has the following properties
 ## Register your own serializer
 
 Don't like JSON or YAML?  That's OK, VCR.py can serialize to any format
-you would like.  Create your own class that has 2 classmethods:
+you would like.  Create your own module or class instance with 2 methods:
 
- * `def load(cls, cassette_path)`
- * `def dumps(cls, requests, responses)`
+ * `def load(cassette_path)`
+ * `def dumps(requests, responses)`
 
 Finally, register your class with VCR to use your
 new serializer.
@@ -125,12 +125,12 @@ import vcr
 
 BogoSerializer(object):
     """
-    Must implement load() and dumps() classmethods
+    Must implement load() and dumps() methods
     """
     pass
 
 my_vcr = VCR()
-my_vcr.register_serializer('bogo', BogoSerializer)
+my_vcr.register_serializer('bogo', BogoSerializer())
 
 with my_vcr.use_cassette('test.bogo', serializer='bogo'):
     # your http here
diff --git a/vcr/cassette.py b/vcr/cassette.py
index 7aa1b4b..e77c735 100644
--- a/vcr/cassette.py
+++ b/vcr/cassette.py
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 '''The container for recorded requests and responses'''
 
-import os
-import tempfile
 try:
     from collections import Counter, OrderedDict
 except ImportError:
@@ -11,7 +9,7 @@ except ImportError:
 # Internal imports
 from .patch import install, reset
 from .persist import load_cassette, save_cassette
-from .serializers.yamlserializer import YamlSerializer
+from .serializers import yamlserializer
 
 class Cassette(object):
     '''A container for recorded requests and responses'''
@@ -22,7 +20,7 @@ class Cassette(object):
         new_cassette._load()
         return new_cassette
 
-    def __init__(self, path, serializer=YamlSerializer):
+    def __init__(self, path, serializer=yamlserializer):
         self._path = path
         self._serializer = serializer
         self.data = OrderedDict()
diff --git a/vcr/config.py b/vcr/config.py
index 4c70d2d..2e061a1 100644
--- a/vcr/config.py
+++ b/vcr/config.py
@@ -1,15 +1,14 @@
 import os
 from .cassette import Cassette
-from .serializers.yamlserializer import YamlSerializer
-from .serializers.jsonserializer import JSONSerializer
+from .serializers import yamlserializer, jsonserializer
 
 class VCR(object):
     def __init__(self, serializer='yaml', cassette_library_dir=None):
         self.serializer = serializer
         self.cassette_library_dir = cassette_library_dir
         self.serializers = {
-            'yaml': YamlSerializer,
-            'json': JSONSerializer,
+            'yaml': yamlserializer,
+            'json': jsonserializer,
         }
 
     def _get_serializer(self, serializer_name):
diff --git a/vcr/serializers/jsonserializer.py b/vcr/serializers/jsonserializer.py
index d5dca43..cc24e3e 100644
--- a/vcr/serializers/jsonserializer.py
+++ b/vcr/serializers/jsonserializer.py
@@ -13,19 +13,16 @@ def _fix_response_unicode(d):
 		d['body']['string'] = d['body']['string'].encode('utf-8')
 		return d
 
-class JSONSerializer(object):
-    @classmethod
-    def load(cls, cassette_path):
-        with open(cassette_path) as fh:
-            data = json.load(fh)
-        requests = [Request._from_dict(r['request']) for r in data]
-        responses = [_fix_response_unicode(r['response']) for r in data]
-        return requests, responses
+def load(cassette_path):
+    with open(cassette_path) as fh:
+        data = json.load(fh)
+    requests = [Request._from_dict(r['request']) for r in data]
+    responses = [_fix_response_unicode(r['response']) for r in data]
+    return requests, responses
 
-    @classmethod
-    def dumps(cls, requests, responses):
-        data = ([{
-            'request': request._to_dict(),
-            'response': response,
-        } for request, response in zip(requests, responses)])
-        return json.dumps(data, indent=4, default=_json_default)
+def dumps(requests, responses):
+    data = ([{
+        'request': request._to_dict(),
+        'response': response,
+    } for request, response in zip(requests, responses)])
+    return json.dumps(data, indent=4, default=_json_default)
diff --git a/vcr/serializers/yamlserializer.py b/vcr/serializers/yamlserializer.py
index 2c0a5af..de99ada 100644
--- a/vcr/serializers/yamlserializer.py
+++ b/vcr/serializers/yamlserializer.py
@@ -7,18 +7,16 @@ except ImportError:
     from yaml import Loader, Dumper
 
 
-class YamlSerializer(object):
-    @classmethod
-    def load(cls, cassette_path):
-        data = yaml.load(open(cassette_path), Loader=Loader)
-        requests = [r['request'] for r in data]
-        responses = [r['response'] for r in data]
-        return requests, responses
+def load(cassette_path):
+    data = yaml.load(open(cassette_path), Loader=Loader)
+    requests = [r['request'] for r in data]
+    responses = [r['response'] for r in data]
+    return requests, responses
 
-    @classmethod
-    def dumps(cls, requests, responses):
-        data = ([{
-            'request': request,
-            'response': response,
-        } for request, response in zip(requests, responses)])
-        return yaml.dump(data, Dumper=Dumper)
+
+def dumps(requests, responses):
+    data = ([{
+        'request': request,
+        'response': response,
+    } for request, response in zip(requests, responses)])
+    return yaml.dump(data, Dumper=Dumper)