Since 2007, YouTube’s automated Content ID system has been helping the company catch potential copyright violations that occur on the site to aid copyright protection. Copyright owners, such as music producers or movie studios, will upload content to the system where they will then be assigned a digital identifier that will help to identify any content uploaded on to the site that infringes their copyright. Once Content ID flags a video for violating existing copyrights, the copyright holder will be notified of the violation and will have the option to either have the video removed or earn advertising revenue generated by the infringing content. Those accused of violating YouTube’s terms of use have the option to appeal, but this process typically takes time, often a few months. Furthermore, during the appeal process, the content creator’s account is barred from collecting any advertising revenue generated by the accused video. Even if the video is found to have not been in violation of YouTube’s policies, the video’s creator is still unable to recover the advertising revenue lost during the appeal process. For some content creators, this can be a serious issue as many rely on this advertising revenue generated by their videos on YouTube as their sole source of income. Adding to this, many have begun to notice that Content ID will often improperly flag original content, wrongfully accusing users of copyright violations, affecting both their income and reputation. Balancing the competing interests of copyright protection and YouTube’s user policies can be a difficult task.
In response to the growing chorus of frustrated voices of YouTube’s original content creators, what many regard as the lifeblood of the site, YouTube has announced it will be updating the Content ID system sometime in the “coming months.” As part of this update, YouTube will continue collecting advertising revenue from accused videos, placing it in a sort of escrow account. At the conclusion of the dispute, the revenue generated by the video will then be turned over to the winner of the copyright dispute. Although many of YouTube’s content creators believe more needs to be done to establish a greater line of communication between YouTube and its users, this update is seen as a step in the right direction.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/youtube-content-id-1.3569899
