YouTube antipiracy software policy criticised
Link: YouTube antipiracy software policy criticised
YouTube, Google’s free video sharing website which lets users upload, view, and share video clips, is planning to offer antipiracy tools to companies which it has distribution deals with.
The technology would help media companies identify pirated videos uploaded by users.
YouTube’s plan to provide the tools only as part of broader negotiations on licensing deals has come under fire from the media industry.
The policy contrasts with rival News Corp’s plan to offer its own version of copyright protection services for free. News Corp owns popular Internet social networking site MySpace.
Viacom, owner of MTV Networks and Comedy Central, has called YouTube’s policy ‘unacceptable’. Earlier in February, Viacom ordered YouTube to remove over 100,000 Viacom video clips from the site after the two companies failed to reach a distribution agreement.
YouTube claims that the process of identifying copyrighted material is not an automated process and requires the cooperation of media company partners. A clip of a TV show owned by one company, for example, could contain music produced by another.
These complexities make it difficult to identify ownership and YouTube is working with its partners to overcome the problems.
