| The current system has as its main purpose the justification of Youtube the corporation showing rights holders that it is "doing something" about copyright violations. In that, it serves its purpose very well. The system is meant to flag the vast majority of uses of other people's videos but glosses over any questions about whether such use is considered "fair use" per local law or whether the presumed owner of the video actually cares or has granted permission for the use. It assumes anyone using a video that's not theirs is doing so in violation of copyright, and refuses to allow that video to be posted. It's automatic and often wrong, but Youtube don't care because it's keeping the parties that can have a significant effect on Youtube's business (and bottom line) happy - the large conglomerates, corporations, and industries that profit off of media world wide. They want any valuable media to be producing income for them forever, with Youtube and other online providers strong armed into policing their unfair system. Thus, the imbalances in the present copyright system (infinitely extending copyrights providing rent to corporations) is extended into Youtube's de facto monopoly on sharing user videos. Youtube's automated takedown system steps on ordinary content creators daily, but Youtube (Google) doesn't care, because individual content creators can't cause them as much trouble as corporations. So, it's working just fine if you keep that in mind. Youtube and Google are monopolies that need to be broken up. |