-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [ NNSquad ] The real YouTube pirates: Firms that claim public domain footage as their own! Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:09:11 -0800 From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com> To: nnsquad@nnsquad.org The real YouTube pirates: Firms that claim public domain footage as their own! http://j.mp/vLcZqE (Guardian) "Malamud's 146-page report from FedFlix to the Archivist of the United States documents claims that companies such as NBC Universal, al-Jazeera, and Discovery Communications have used ContentID to claim title to FedFlix videos on YouTube. Some music royalty collecting societies have claimed infringements in "silent movies". ... YouTube offers very little help for FedFlix. ContentID's dispute resolution mechanism allows FedFlix to contest these claims under only three circumstances: first, ContentID has generated a false match (that is, the video isn't what ContentID thinks it is); second, the uploader has the right to the file, as demonstrated by written permission from its proprietor; or third, the use is acceptable under the US doctrine of fair use, or its counterpart in other laws, fair dealing. But FedFlix can't contest on any of these bases. ContentID isn't mistaken - the files are exactly what ContentID thinks they are. But no rights holder can send a written permission notice to YouTube about these files, because they have no rights holders - they are in the public domain. The posting of these files isn't "fair use". Fair use is a copyright infringement that is lawful because it serves some allowed purpose. FedFlix's posting of public domain files is not a copyright violation, so they can't be fair use. Malamud's report documents these troubles in Kafkaesque detail." - - - I've heard from persons who shot their own videos in their own houses, using ancient classical music they performed on their own instruments, who have gotten multiple Content ID hits and strikes. When they attempt to contest, the false "rights holders" simply takedown again. Most of these people don't have the resources to hire lawyers to go further, and escalating such issues with Google is an exercise in frustration for most of them. On the other hand, Google is between a rock and a hard place on this. The amount of new video flowing into YouTube each day is vast, and only automated systems can deal with them effectively. YouTube's Content ID has been an honest attempt to hold back far more draconian content control schemes (such as SOPA/PIPA) which would do even more damage. Note that I'm not even talking here about arguments over "fair use" -- right now we're discussing materials that are public domain or owned wholly by the uploaders. I have my own ideas on how to deal with this unbalanced situation, but in the current SOPA/PIPA environment aimed at giving even *more* power to the entities that abuse Content ID, et al., it hardly even seems worthwhile to discuss my concepts regarding this now. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org Founder: - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com _______________________________________________ nnsquad mailing list http://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad