Tech
YouTube is making copyright claims easier to manage
But that doesn’t mean creators can expect fewer infringement claims.
YouTube has introduced new tools to help content makers make sense of, and resolve, claims of copyright infringement against their videos. The company has been getting flak about copyright from all sides for ages. Rightsholders want the platform to defend them from infringers while creators want transparency about how YouTube handles claims and assistance complying so they don’t get penalized.
Who complained? — YouTube explains on its blog how the new tools work. The first thing users will notice is a new “copyright strikes” card in their channel dashboard. Clicking it will show creators which videos have been removed, who submitted the takedown notice and what they can do to resolve the problem.
Trim the offending content — Additionally, a new editing tool called “assisted trim” enables creators to trim out the offending copyrighted content. Doing so will automatically resolve the claim against the content. Users can’t adjust the trim endpoints with the tool yet, but can do so in the regular YouTube Editor. YouTube says “many more updates” are coming next year “that will improve your copyright experience.”
It's also now possible to filter a channel’s video page to show videos have been affected by a copyright infringement claim, which should make managing them a lot easier.
Copyright is just one of the myriad issues YouTube is grappling with at present. Regulators are pushing for better content moderation from the platform, what moderation there is often traumatizes the moderators, and rival Facebook wants to challenge YouTube’s dominance as the home of music videos.
But hey, at least no one’s going to get away with stealing food from the mouths of starving pop stars by illicitly using their music to soundtrack a homemade video of a dancing pet.
