YouTube Copyright Issues
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YouTube copyright issues relate to how the
Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
-owned site implements its protection methods. The systems are designed to protect the exclusivity of a given creator and owner and the rights to reproduce their work. YouTube uses automated measures such as copyright strikes, Content ID and Copyright Verification Program. These methods have been criticized for favoring corporations and their use of copyright claims to limit usage of uploaded content. When a person or company creates an original work that is fixed in a physical medium, they automatically own
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
to the work. The owner has the
exclusive right In Anglo-Saxon law, an exclusive right, or exclusivity, is a de facto, non-tangible prerogative existing in law (that is, the power or, in a wider sense, right) to perform an action or acquire a benefit and to permit or deny others the right t ...
to use the work in certain, specific ways. In response to a lawsuit from Viacom, video sharing service
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
developed a copyright enforcement tool referred to as Content ID which automatically scans uploaded content against a database of copyrighted material ingested by third-parties. If an uploaded video is matched against an asset in the database, YouTube warns the user of the match and applies a predetermined 'match policy'.


Beginnings

YouTube has faced numerous challenges and criticisms in its attempts to deal with copyright, including the site's first viral video, Lazy Sunday, which had to be taken due to copyright concerns. At the time of uploading a video, YouTube users are shown a message asking them not to violate copyright laws. Despite this advice, many unauthorized clips of copyrighted material remain on YouTube. YouTube does not view videos before they are posted online, and it is left to copyright holders to issue a
DMCA The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...
takedown notice Notice and take down is a process operated by online hosts in response to court orders or allegations that content is illegal. Content is removed by the host following notice. Notice and take down is widely operated in relation to copyright infri ...
pursuant to the terms of the
Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act The Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA) is United States federal law that creates a conditional 'safe harbor' for online service providers (OSP) (a group which includes internet service providers (ISP) and other Inter ...
. Any successful complaint about copyright infringement results in a
YouTube copyright strike YouTube copyright strike is a copyright policing practice used by YouTube for the purpose of managing copyright infringement and complying with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is the basis for th ...
. Four successful complaints for
copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
against a user account will result in the account and all of its uploaded videos being deleted. Organizations including
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
, Mediaset, and the English
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
have filed lawsuits against YouTube, claiming that it has done too little to prevent the uploading of copyrighted material. Viacom, demanding $1 billion in damages, said that it had found more than 150,000 unauthorized clips of its material on YouTube that had been viewed "an astounding 1.5 billion times". YouTube responded by stating that it "goes far beyond its legal obligations in assisting content owners to protect their works". During the same court battle, Viacom won a court ruling requiring YouTube to hand over 12 terabytes of data detailing the viewing habits of every user who has watched videos on the site. The decision was criticized by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which called the court ruling "a setback to privacy rights". In June 2010, Viacom's lawsuit against Google was rejected in a summary judgment, with U.S. federal Judge Louis L. Stanton stating that Google was protected by provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Viacom announced its intention to appeal the ruling. On April 5, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reinstated the case, allowing Viacom's lawsuit against Google to be heard in court again. On March 18, 2014, the lawsuit was settled after seven years with an undisclosed agreement. In August 2008, a US court ruled in ''
Lenz v. Universal Music Corp. ''Lenz v. Universal Music Corp.'', 801 F.3d 1126 (9th Cir. 2015), is a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, holding that copyright owners must consider fair use defenses and good faith activities by alleged copyrig ...
'' that copyright holders cannot order the removal of an online file without first determining whether the posting reflected
fair use Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests ...
of the material. The case involved Stephanie Lenz from Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, who had made a home video of her 13-month-old son dancing to
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
's song "
Let's Go Crazy "Let's Go Crazy" is a 1984 song by Prince and The Revolution, from the album '' Purple Rain''. It was the opening track on both the album and the film '' Purple Rain''. "Let's Go Crazy" was one of Prince's most popular songs, and was a staple f ...
", and posted the 29-second video on YouTube. In the case of ''
Smith v. Summit Entertainment LLC ''Smith v. Summit Entertainment LLC'', No. 3:11-cv-00348 (N.D. Ohio June 6, 2011), was a case heard by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, in which professional singer Matthew Smith, known as Matt Heart, sued Summit ...
'', professional singer Matt Smith sued Summit Entertainment for the wrongful use of copyright takedown notices on YouTube. He asserted seven
causes of action A cause of action or right of action, in law, is a set of facts sufficient to justify suing to obtain money or property, or to justify the enforcement of a legal right against another party. The term also refers to the legal theory upon which a p ...
, and four were ruled in Smith's favor. In April 2012, a court in Hamburg ruled that YouTube could be held responsible for copyrighted material posted by its users. The performance rights organization GEMA argued that YouTube had not done enough to prevent the uploading of German copyrighted music. YouTube responded by stating: On November 1, 2016, the dispute with GEMA was resolved, with Google content ID being used to allow advertisements to be added to videos with content protected by GEMA. In April 2013, it was reported that
Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
and YouTube have a contractual agreement that prevents content blocked on YouTube by a request from UMG from being restored, even if the uploader of the video files a DMCA counter-notice. When a dispute occurs, the uploader of the video has to contact UMG. YouTube's owner Google announced in November 2015 that they would help cover the legal cost in select cases where they believe fair use defenses apply.


Content ID

At the end of 2013, YouTube enabled automated Content ID claiming on videos uploaded by users who were signed with
multi-channel network A multi-channel network (MCN) is an organization that works with video platforms to offer assistance to a channel owner in areas such as "product, programming, funding, cross-promotion, partner management, digital rights management, monetizat ...
s (MCN). Previously, videos uploaded to channels that were linked to MCNs could only be claimed manually or removed with a
DMCA takedown The Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA) is United States federal law that creates a conditional 'safe harbor' for online service providers (OSP) (a group which includes internet service providers (ISP) and other Inter ...
. This led to a large number of new claims which suddenly left uploaders unable to place advertisements on their videos until they disputed. Users such as
Angry Joe Jose Antonio Vargas (born June 18, 1984) is an American media commentator and YouTuber. He is notable for his portrayal of the character AngryJoe and for his production of the ''AngryJoeShow'', a video game and movie review channel. YouTube Var ...
created videos complaining about the changes and how they would negatively affect the livelihoods of video creators.


Attempts at copyright enforcement

In 2015 YouTubers known as the
Fine Brothers React Media, LLC (also known as React; formerly as Fine Brothers Entertainment) is an American media company, founded by brothers Benny Fine (born March 19, 1981) and Rafi Fine (born June 9, 1983), creators and media entrepreneurs. React Media p ...
, who produce "reaction videos", applied to trademark the word "react" when it was used in an uploaded video title to protect their series such as "Kids React" or "Adults React". An action that received severe criticism from other Youtubers because it would mean – if successful – that similarly-named videos could be removed according to Youtube's copyright system. In 2016, the Fine Brothers launched React World. This was a program where people could use Fine Brothers' icons to make their own videos for free. However, all uploaded "React" content had to be monetized on YouTube and some of the uploader's revenue would be paid to the Fine Brothers. After a massive backlash against what Fine Brothers were doing, they canceled the program and rescinded their copyright and trademarks application. It has been estimated their actions lost more than 400,000 subscribers.


Copyright claims

Since implementing its new policies, YouTube has acted swiftly to remove videos and even entire channels from its site when it receives claims of
copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
. In November 2015 this issue was highly publicized when a review of the film ''Cool Cat Saves the Kids'' by the channel "I Hate Everything" was removed by YouTube, along with videos on
Channel Awesome Channel Awesome, Inc. is an American online media production company based in Lombard, Illinois. The company was created in 2008 by Mike Michaud, Mike Ellis, and Bhargav Dronamraju. Channel Awesome operated the ''That Guy with the Glasses'' ...
and
Markiplier Mark Edward Fischbach ( ; born June 28, 1989), also known as Markiplier, is an American YouTuber. Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, he began his career in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is currently based in Los Angeles, California. In addition to uplo ...
. This led to a large number of complaints against YouTube and on social media sites like
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. This prompted YouTube's CEO
Susan Wojcicki Susan Diane Wojcicki ( ; born July 5, 1968) is a Polish-American business executive who is the CEO of YouTube. Her net worth was estimated at $765 million in 2022. Wojcicki has worked in the technology industry for over 20 years. She became invol ...
to respond three months later with "Thank you @YouTube community for all the feedback. We're listening" in February 2016. Videos continued to be removed and flagged on the site when copyright claims were made against uploaders for using the alleged use of protected material. On April 25, 2016, YouTuber and freelance video game critic
Jim Sterling James Stephanie Sterling, also known as Jim Sterling, is an English-American freelance video game journalist, critic, pundit, YouTuber, and professional wrestler. Before becoming independent in September 2014, they were the review editor for ...
included clips of footage from ''Metal Gear Solid V'', '' Grand Theft Auto V'' and '' Beyond: Two Souls'', as well as the song " Chains of Love", in a video largely discussing ''
Star Fox Zero is a 3D rail shooter video game developed by Nintendo and PlatinumGames for the Wii U. It is the sixth installment in the ''Star Fox'' series. Formally announced at E3 2015, the game was released in April 2016 to mixed critical reception, w ...
''. Sterling explained this at the end of the video as a way of preventing Nintendo from claiming and monetizing the video by including other material which was similarly flagged by Content ID, hoping that multiple claims would prevent anyone from monetizing the video and running advertisements on their channel, which is intended to be ad-free and funded solely by
Patreon Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a com ...
. In a follow-up video, they claimed that the technique, which they termed the "copyright deadlock", had succeeded, as the video received multiple ContentID claims, one of which attempted to monetize the video, while two others prevented any monetization, allowing the video to run advertisement-free. Sterling stated that this was indicative of a poorly designed system on YouTube's part, as a video which was well within the bounds of fair use had attracted three copyright claims. They also claimed that they would continue to include material that had previously received Content ID claims in videos likely to attract monetization attempts from the copyright owners, since fair use was not protecting their videos from copyright claims, pointing out that they now felt incentivized to use as much copyrighted material in their videos as possible, the opposite of what YouTube's copyright policies were intended to achieve. In May 2016, a YouTube user Matt Hosseinzadeh sued the YouTube channel
h3h3productions h3h3Productions is a YouTube channel hosted by Ethan Klein and Hila Klein, an Israeli-American husband-and-wife duo. The majority of their content consists of reaction videos and sketch comedy in which they satirize internet culture. The ''H3 ...
(run by Ethan and Hila Klein) citing a video that criticized his content. Fellow YouTube user
Philip DeFranco Philip James DeFranco (born Philip James Franchini Jr.; born December 1, 1985), commonly known by his online nickname PhillyD, is an American YouTube personality. He is best known for ''The Philip DeFranco Show'', a news commentary show centered ...
started a
GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the be ...
fundraiser entitled "Help for H3H3". The initiative raised over $130,000. The Kleins later uploaded a video where they announced that any funds from the fundraiser left over from their lawsuit would be entrusted in to a 'Fair Use Protection Account', which other users could request assistance from in the event they were sued for copyright infringement. On December 13, 2018,
TheFatRat Christian Friedrich Johannes Büttner (born 1 June 1979), known professionally as TheFatRat, is a German DJ, record producer and musician. His genre is often described as "glitch-hop". He is best known for his 2016 extended play ''Jackpot'' which ...
posted on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that one of his songs, "The Calling", was content claimed by a user named Ramjets for unfairly using a song on the behalf of Andres Galvis, who had remixed the original track. He originally appealed but was denied as it is not YouTube, but the user claiming the content who has the final say over the appeal. He messaged
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
to appeal, but YouTube said that they do not mediate copyright claims. The claim was later removed, with Google terminating the claimant's YouTube channel and multi-channel network. On Jan 30, 2019, ObbyRaidz, a channel with 6000 subscribers, tweeted that someone called VengefulFlame had messaged him saying that they had put two copyright strikes on his channel, even though he did not infringe on any content, telling him to pay $150 to get the strikes removed, or else his channel would receive a third strike and be taken down. When he tweeted it, VengefulFlame messaged him: "Hey, we saw you tweet about us, Not sure why you thought that was a good idea or if you thought you would remotely get any help, but this has violated any potential deal. Enjoy your third copyright strike." Kenzo, a channel with 60000 subscribers, said the VengefulFlame also messaged him to tell him to pay $600 or $400 worth of bitcoin and said they were paid by someone else to strike him. YouTube, however, stepped in, resolving the strike and terminating the channel. In January 2020,
Jukin Media Jukin Media, Inc. is an entertainment company that operates by identifying shareable or otherwise compelling user-generated videos, negotiating with the video owners, and then licensing the videos for third-party use and/or featuring the videos i ...
has been criticized for extorting
YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influe ...
s MxR and Potastic Panda, asking $6,000 for
copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
. In this case, one of the pair's reaction videos saw them watch four clips recently bought by Jukin Media, which has promptly issued them with an invoice for four cases of infringing on its copyright. Jukin Media scouts for online videos going viral and licenses them. Liang expressed concern in a video posted on January 13, 2020, that the pair were being "
extorted Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...
" and could lose their channel if Jukin Media contacted
Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
with all four claims at once, as this could potentially break YouTube's "three strikes" rule. He added that the pair had previously paid Jukin Media when it demanded cash for copyrighted material. Following a revelation in October 2020 that a truck in a "self-driving" video was actually just rolling down a hill,
Nikola Corporation Nikola Corporation is an American manufacturer of heavy-duty commercial battery-electric vehicles, fuel-cell electric vehicles, and energy solutions. It presented several vehicle concepts from 2016 to 2020, the first of which was a natural g ...
issued takedown notices against several videos which used that footage. On December 21, 2022, a YouTuber by the name of TheProfessional was hit by a copyright claim from a music distribution company named FUGA. TheProfessional however was using music created by
Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...
for the in-game radio stations for Grand Theft Auto III and
Grand Theft Auto IV ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', and the e ...
. They told the YouTuber that it had used the copyright claim on “behalf of Rockstar Games”, however the music was made to not be copyrighted. The issue as of December 23, 2022 has not been solved and his play through of GTA III and GTA IV have been hit with copyright claims from FUGA.


References

{{YouTube navbox YouTube legal issues Copyright law Criticism of Google YouTube controversies