YouTube Finally Starting To Change Their Disastrous Copyright System, Will Cover Legal Fees Up to $1 Million for Video Makers Facing Takedowns

[Doctor Octagon]

 

 

If you publish videos on YouTube, it’s a chance to share creations with an enormous audience. But thanks to a legal system stacked in favor of corporations, it’s also a treacherous landscape where a copyright takedown notice can result in your channel getting deleted. Now, YouTube is fighting back.In short, YouTube wants to defend fair use. For a handful of videos, YouTube will refuse to comply with takedown notices and leave the videos on the site. It’ll even cover legal costs—up to $1 million—to defend the video in court.

 

(It’s worth noting that the videos will only stay online in the US.)

 

In a blog post titled “A Step Toward Protecting Fair Use on YouTube,” Google copyright legal director Fred von Lohmann explained this long overdue move, which it’s calling “Fair Use Protection.”

 

“We’re doing this because we recognize that creators can be intimidated by the DMCA’s counter notification process, and the potential for litigation that comes with it,” said von Lohmann. “ [...] While we can’t offer legal protection to every video creator—or even every video that has a strong fair use defense—we’ll continue to resist legally unsupported DMCA takedowns as part of our normal processes. We believe even the small number of videos we are able to protect will make a positive impact on the entire YouTube ecosystem, ensuring YouTube remains a place where creativity and expression can be rewarded.”

 

Google seems to be hoping for a ripple effect. By defending a handful of videos—in court, if necessary—it might protect millions of others in the process.

 

This isn’t entirely new, however. YouTube has, in the past, pushed back on takedown notices and told companies they’ve been using them improperly. When George “Super Bunnyhop” Weidman published “Kojima vs. Konami: An Investigation” back in May, Konami issued a takedown notice and the video disappeared. Later, however, YouTube said Konami was clearly in the wrong:

 

 

 

 

[Via Kotaku]

 

 

[Rowsdower70]

Saw this on the Jimquisition today.   Definitely a move in the right direction!

[AlamoAtari]

Good, I think proof should be the one making the claim. I see a lot of abuse coming from those who can't take criticism use this tactic more often these days.