YouTube, Video Removed: Copyright Infringement

You have to be very careful what you upload onto YouTube these days. I recently received an email from them a few months after uploading a video clip I had made.

Video Removed: Copyright Infringement

This originally had me baffled. The email said that a third party had complained of an infringement to their copyright caused by the Video and so it had been removed. After a bit of head scratching, I realised that I had used some background music on the video. This was the problem.

Like many people, I had shot a short clip, put some music onto it and then uploaded.

Not wanted to get my account suspended, I then deleted three other videos that possibly could be brought up for the same offence. YouTube were right in removing the videos as they were indeed infringing on a copyright. It just goes to show, with the ease of media use, you have to be extra vigilant.

Incidentally, I did some searches on YouTube afterwards and the amount of Videos that could be removed for the same offence were... practically all of them!

This sort of extensive and widespread media use is impossible to 100% police and I think it's inevitable in the future that YouTube will do some sort of deal with major Music Companies.

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www.jenkin7.co.uk

YouTube and Copyright

One cannot deny, the huge success of YouTube. The Internet video sharing service has been nothing short of phenomenal. In fact, many thousands of video clips are uploaded each day and it shows no sign of slowing. How Youtube are managing to store this vast amount of ever increasing information is beyond the likes of me, but I'm guessing the place is rather large.

So... what kind of videos are being watched and uploaded? Well... just about anything really.

If you've ever uploaded anything onto YouTube, you would have seen the message,

"Do not upload any TV shows, music videos, music concerts or commercials without permission unless they consist entirely of content you created yourself. The Copyright Tips page and the Community Guidelines can help you determine whether your video infringes someone Else's copyright."

Now... I don't want to come across as hypocritical here, as I have just used YouTube to watch the whole first series of a popular TV show. Arguably, the makers could say they have lost revenue as I will not now buy it in the shops. Well... they are correct in some cases. I wouldn't have bought it though and even then the quality on the YouTube upload is not as good as the released DVDs would have been. True fans would buy the DVD box sets regardless. Even so, I'm not sure this is something I should be further exploiting as just simply watching the material could legally be problematic.

I agree with the copyright laws to protect the rights of the individual makers, but YouTube is so large and the amount of videos being uploaded so vast, it perhaps makes the task virtually impossible to police.

Major infringers of Copyright which are reported, YouTube are quick to remove. But for each video or account that is taken down, another one appears in its place just a little later if not immediately. The TV series I watched has been on show for about 5 months now. It will get noticed at some point and the account will probably be suspended. Whether legal action will be taken, I don't know. The video I watched has now been viewd over 17,000 times.

This is an ongoing problem for YouTube and for sure, any network which allows video upload. With the technology still being relatively new, it will be interesting to see how this Copyright battle develops into the future.

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www.jenkin7.co.uk