We all know by now of the problems YouTube has been facing regarding copyrighted material on the site. But is the solution to an ongoing legal issue to delete audio tracks from videos? Surely this is just another nail in the coffin of user-generated content.
From Lawless To Lawsuit
When YouTube broke into the mainstream, it was a pretty lawless place, with copyrighted material being uploaded all over the place, and no real system in place for copyright holders to take steps to protect their rights.
This obviously couldn’t last and a combination of Google buying the site, and that still-ongoing $1 billion lawsuit from Viacom conspired to force changes. And YouTube has improved massively in this respect.
Audio Vs Video
There is the much-maligned Video Identification system now in place, which allows copyright holders to easily check for their content being illegally used. They can then have it removed or monetize the video for their own ends. The latter of which has been used very successfully by some companies.
Music or audio tracks have always been part of this system, with copyright holders notified of violations. But now, Google has started removing the audio tracks while leaving the videos in place, meaning YouTube has become a wasteland of creepy silent videos.
Silent Batman Video
Any video found to be infringing is now tagged with the line “This video contains an audio track that has not been authorized by all copyright holders. The audio has been disabled.”
Legal Sensibility
Why Google has done this is obvious – it makes perfect sense from a legal perspective. But it’s not a very helpful policy for content creators who may have a video prepared and need to add a suitable song over the top of it to complete the effect.
Indeed, mash ups, remixes, parodies, and AMV (Anime Music Videos) are a huge part of YouTube, and this move would seem to kill them off almost entirely. Unless the uploader swaps the copyright-infringing audio track for one from the preset library, the audio disappears and the video becomes a complete joke.
Music Licensing Kills UGC
I can’t help but wondering whether this has something to do with the recent troubles YouTube has been having with the big four record labels. Music licensing hasn’t suddenly become more complicated overnight so this move must have been forced.
User-Generated content is already being squeezed due to overzealous DMCA takedown notices and the lack of monetization options. And this is clearly going to be another nail in its coffin.
YouTube was bound to change its legal structuring to prevent being hit with a lawsuit every other week. But I do have to wonder if this latest move is entirely necessary. As YouTube becomes more professional, it seems to also be becoming boring.
[Via ReadWriteWeb]
