YouTube is an online video hosting and sharing platform available to people all around the world. The platform was established in 2005 as a way for people to upload and share videos with others. Over the years, it has amassed a massive userbase and is well-regarded as the biggest website in its sphere. Many people are working on YouTube at the moment, both as members of the company itself and as creators stationed on the website. People are able to publish music, video, art projects, commentaries, reviews, playthroughs of video games, and many other types of content, all of which are widely available for public acclaim and relative financial success. Monetization was a practice that was gradually adopted into the system, along with the various partnerships and deals that allow people to earn money from posting videos on YouTube. With the number of content creators, companies, and independent artists on the platform, as well as the inclusion of the ability to monetize problems of Fair use and Copyright have begun to emerge on the platform as well. Since the video-sharing platform is free, some people seek to profit off of others’ hard work, stealing and reuploading existing content, or masquerading it as their own, to gain notoriety. In other cases, malicious entities also abused the Copyright system employed by YouTube to take down videos they do not like unfairly, which is also a large problem. Both of these issues stem from deliberate misuse or misunderstanding of the concept of Fair use and Copyright. This review will focus on separately discussing the issues of Copyright and fair use as they are existent on YouTube, as well as discussing the legal cases that stemmed from their abuse.
Copyright is the law and the type of intellectual property which is used to credit authors of works of a non-physical nature. Copyright can be used to protect the original expression of the idea against theft, change, or other forms of infringement that can harm the creator. Copyright has gained traction in the digital age where online sharing of works has become more widespread and the need to properly credit and secure the rights of the author has become more apparent. On YouTube as a platform, creators are able to spread their work, retaining their rights as the makers of content. However, in reality, the law is rather difficult to enforce, partly because of the size of the platform and partly due to the ability of everyone to post videos. Content is constantly being stolen, reuploaded, and repurposed by people without permission. This is even more apparent in cases of intellectual properties of big corporations and companies or creators outside of the platform. Their works are being publicized and reproduced on YouTube, often without any kind of explicit permission, or even illegally. Online piracy has a tight connection with YouTube as a place where content can be freely distributed among the masses. The reporting system exists to amend this problem, but it is not without its flaws. Due to the sheer size of the platform, Copyright infringement requests are not reviewed by real people and are instead handled by algorithms that are unable to fully understand their use of copyrighted material, or the validity of the claims made (How YouTube Prevents Content Piracy – How YouTube Works). This makes the process of appealing for the Copyright infringement unregulated and unreliable. Manual reviews of claims by YouTube staff often take months and smaller creators are. Even unable to get in contact with people, therefore making their issues unresolved.
Fair Use is another important concept to understand in relation to YouTube and Copyright. The term is used to describe the legal usage of content that abides with the current copyright legislation. As it stands, content creators and the users of the website are able to use portions of other people’s content if they are used in a manner that does not devalue or detract from the meaning of the original. Content-based on reflection and response, such as reviews or commentaries, therefore, can use portions of original copyrighted material without infringement if the material of the review adds more value or transforms the original property in a sufficient manner (Fair use on YouTube – YouTube Help). Fair Use is established to allow people further creativity and transformation of work on the website as well as other parts of the Internet. The problem then arises from people who either misunderstand the use of Fair use or intentionally misinterpret the law to suit their own agenda. In many cases creators and companies disregard the basics of Fair use and demand their content be removed from videos that have used it legally, therefore impeding the work of creators and stifling the development of the platform. The automatization of Copyright infringement reviews that were previously mentioned further exacerbates the problem. As people are often unable to appeal the claims made against them and have no central authority to turn there. Complaints to. Any response to a Copyright infringement claim Goes directly to the person that filed the claim, therefore making the system of repealing Copyright strikes one-sided and unfair to innocent content creators.
Cases
Viacom Int’l, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc.
A multinational mass media company, Viacom, sued YouTube for multiple cases of Copyright infringement on its platform. The company has alleged that the site has Violates Copyright by allowing users to repost and publish videos that explicitly have content owned by Viacom (Viacom Int’l, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc. – 676 F.3d 19 (2d Cir. 2012)). However, a dismissal was filed by Google, YouTube’s parent company, and the case was later fully dismissed. Despite the fact that YouTube managed to escape paying the fine, the existence of this case displays the scale of the problem existing on the platform and the issues that many companies have with Copyright infringement.
Youtube, LLC v. Brady
A Nebraska man, Christopher Brady. Was sued by YouTube and forced to pay a fine of $25,000 For misusing the Copyright takedown system employed by the website (Lee, 2019). Using the ultimate complaint form issued by YouTube, the man has falsely claimed that a number of videos infringe on his rights as a copyright holder and has taken them down. The man then tried to extort money from creators for releasing their videos engaging in illegal activity (Lee, 2019). The actions of Brady have been possible due to the imperfections in the YouTube system. As well as his own personal responsibility. The lawsuit presents a good argument against YouTube’s automatic Copyright system, as it is unable to distinguish between legitimate and falsified appeals.
Schneider v. Youtube, LLC
The case issued by Maria Schneider against YouTube brought up the issue of small creators having no ability to enforce their copyright (Errick, 2020). Bigger corporations, Creators, and entities are able to More fully regulate the scale of Copyright infringement on the platform as the YouTube staff often comes into contact with them and helps to resolve occurring issues. This, however, is not the case with smaller creators who are often left lead left in the dark about the operation of the website and are unable to effectively communicate with the Administration staff. The discrepancy leads to large amounts of works from content creators and artists being re-uploaded without any repercussions for offenders.
Personal Perspective
YouTube is a great platform for content creators and people all around the globe, allowing them to freely post the videos and garner an audience. However, the systems in place for protecting the rights of creators and bigger entities are flawed. An inability for requests to be manually reviewed leads to many cases of abuse and mishandling. Smaller creators suffer the most, as they have no power, influence, or voice to make their complaints heard, and their problems often get lost in a sea of information. The current Copyright infringement end fair use regulations employed in the site have to be subject to severe changes before they can be truly effective.
References
Google. Fair use on YouTube – YouTube Help. Google. Web.
YouTube. How YouTube Prevents Content Piracy – How YouTube Works. YouTube.
Viacom Int’l, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc. – 676 F.3d 19 (2d Cir. 2012). Community. Web.
Lee , T. (2019). Man sued for using bogus YouTube takedowns to get address for swatting. Ars Technica. Web.
Errick, K. (2020). YouTube Sued by Content Creators For Copyright Infringement, Unfair Treatment – Tech. LawStreetMedia. Web.