YouTube and Uploaded Could Be Liable For Pirating Users, Court Rules - Slashdot

YouTube and Uploaded Could Be Liable For Pirating Users, Court Rules

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• by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02, 2022 @06:35PM (#62588318)

  If I'm correct this won't fly in the US, does Section 230 cover video uploads?

  Yes. YouTube (and all the others) cannot be sued for copyright infringement if they take down videos when a complaint is made.
  
  But, this has an unintended side-effect. There is no meaningful penalty or enforcement against people who make false copyright claims. A very large amount of content that should be protected by Fair Use gets taken down every day because that's the fastest/easiest way to deal with a copyright claim.
  
  If you don't like someone, it's relatively easy to get their stuff taken down by making false copyright claims. I know because it has happened to me.

  • Re:

    Fair use is a defense you can claim when sued for copyright infringement. A judge rules on the merits of the defense.
    It's not up to YouTube to decide which way a judge would rule on it if the copyright holder were to sue.

    • Under DMCA, you can assert fair use BEFORE a suit is even files with the court and YouTube has to restore the content, ifnot you can sue YouTube for failing to do so.

      Someone sends in a "this is copyright infringement" letter under DMCA, the uploader can similarly send one right the back saying "no, it isn't infringing" the site has to put the content back. It's a counternotice.

      At that point, the complainant can take it to federal court if they want to send the time and money.

      Back in the 1990s, that seemed like a fair process to most of us. We didn't anticipate that some assholes would start blasting out reckless legal notices via automated processes. If they did, abuse of process was already actionable anyway. We didn't think we needed that existing law repeated within DMCA. Obviously, we did. It's now clear there should have been statutory damages for recklessly sending bogus notices.

      • Re:

        But, but, but it's their platform and they can do what they want under free speech, including not allowing you to upload!

      • Re:

        The counter-notice only means that YouTube can't be sued for copyright relating to your upload. That may make them feel safe to make your upload available again but they're under no obligation to do so.

        • You realize you cut that sentence off in the middle, right?
          If they do not restore the content after counter-notice, they lose the safe harbor - you can sue them for damages.

          HOW MUCH you'll get, what damages you can prove, varies case by case. It could be anywhere from zero million of dollars. (With the vast majority being close to zero).

          • Re:

            Unless the rights holder notifies YouTube that they're suing you.

            But the technicalities of the DCMA don't often matter. YouTube has contracts with large rights holders under which they simply notify YouTube which content they want taken down with no formal DCMA notifications required. That's the reason behind a large percentage of take-downs and there's no counter-notice procedure available in those cases.

            • SImply not true

              Neither of those statements is true.

              Youtube DOES have a button for you to click to do a counter-notice.

              Here's the step-by-step, click-by-clik process for Youtube:
              https://slashdot.org/comments.... [slashdot.org]

              The form that large rightsholders use with Youtube contains the URL and the assertion, so it IS a DMCA notice.

      • Re:

        How? What's the process...?

        • In Youtube, click the button

          I don't know if you're asking about the counter notice process generally, or Youtube specific. Youtube has a button to click. More generally, you send a letter / email something like this:
          https://gimmelaw.com/sample-fo... [gimmelaw.com]

          For Youtube specifically:

          Sign in to YouTube Studio.
          From the left menu, select Content.
          Select Filter and then Copyright claims and find impacted video.
          In the Restrictions column, hover over Copyright claim.
          Click SEE DETAILS.
          Under Actions, click SELECT ACTION and then Submit counter notific

    • Re:

      I had a video taken down because it contained 10 seconds a of 3-hour movie made in the 1950s. The clip was of historical interest because it showed an old Indian exercise technique.

      I fail to see how anything could be more "fair use" than that. Youtube has no humans in the loop and no appeals process, do I really have to take Youtube to court and sue them? Who's going to do that?

  • Re:

    Also a lot of stuff that is original content. I know a guy who played a single synthesizer sound in a video and Youtube took it down claiming it was a Daft Punk song.

    What's needed is a working appeals process and penalties for wrongful takedowns. Penalties that are as stiff as the penalties for copyright infringement.

• Re:

  Honestly the there are multiple problems on all sides, but to narrow things down:
  1. Youtube can not correctly identify anything.
  a) It can not identify public domain sounds or music
  b) it can not identify a user who lifts a public domain copyrighted work and puts it in their own
  c) it can not correctly identify the correct owner of music that has been remixed or nightcore'd
  d) it can not correctly identify the correct owner licensed music when it's in a video game or a film

  Like just to bring home the point abou

  • the DMCA BS is why some old aracde games are not i

    the DMCA BS is why some old aracde games are not in MAME but they should be what is going to happen when the hardware / rom / hdd dies and there are no more replacements.

    • Re:

      It dies the horrible death it's creators envisioned for it. What? Did you think copyright was to enrich culture or the public? This is the EU. Go take your complaint across the pond. (Not that they'll listen to you. Ha!) Copyright is, has been, and always will be about money. You poor saps that agreed to it are pure idiots.
      
      - The Copyright Cartels.