Content ID (system)

Content ID^[3] creates an ID File for copyrighted audio and video material, and stores it in a database. When a video is uploaded, it is checked against the database, and flagged as a copyright violation if a match is found.^[4] When this occurs, the content owner has the choice of blocking the video to make it unviewable, tracking the viewing statistics of the video, or adding advertisements to the "infringing" video with proceeds automatically going to the content owner.

Only uploaders who meet specific criteria^[5] can use Content ID.^[6] These criteria make the use of Content ID without the aid of a major backer difficult, limiting its usage to big corporations in practice.^[7]

Between 2007 and 2009, companies including Viacom, Mediaset, and the English Premier League filed lawsuits against YouTube, claiming that it has done too little to prevent the uploading of copyrighted material.^[8][9][10] Viacom, demanding $1 billion in damages, said that it had found more than 150,000 unauthorized clips of its material on YouTube that had been viewed "an astounding 1.5 billion times".

During the same court battle, Viacom won a court ruling requiring YouTube to hand over 12 terabytes of data detailing the viewing habits of every user who had watched videos on the site. On March 18, 2014, the lawsuit was settled after seven years with an undisclosed agreement.^[11]

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Viacom (2005–2019)

Viacom (2005–2019)

The second incarnation of Viacom Inc. was an American multinational mass media conglomerate with interests primarily in film and television, which was formed on December 31, 2005, as a spin-off of the original Viacom. It was one of two companies which succeeded the original Viacom, alongside the second incarnation of CBS Corporation; both were owned by National Amusements, a theater company controlled by businessman Sumner Redstone. The spin-off was structured so that CBS Corporation would be the legal successor to the first Viacom, with the second Viacom being an entirely separated company.

Mediaset

Mediaset

Mediaset Italia S.p.A., also known as Mediaset, is an Italian-based mass media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE - MediaForEurope. Founded in 1987 by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, the group competes primarily against the public broadcaster RAI, the privately owned La7 and Comcast's Sky Italia.

Premier League

Premier League

The Premier League is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League (EFL). Seasons typically run from August to May with each team playing 38 matches. Most games are played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, with occasional weekday evening fixtures.

In June 2007, YouTube began trials of a system for automatic detection of uploaded videos that infringe copyright. Google CEO Eric Schmidt regarded this system as necessary for resolving lawsuits such as the one from Viacom, which alleged that YouTube profited from content that it did not have the right to distribute.^[12] The system was initially called "Video Identification"^[13][14] and later became known as Content ID.^[3] By 2010, YouTube had "already invested tens of millions of dollars in this technology".^[14] In 2011, YouTube described Content ID as "very accurate in finding uploads that look similar to reference files that are of sufficient length and quality to generate an effective ID File".^[4]

By 2012, Content ID accounted for over a third of the monetized views on YouTube.^[15]

In 2016, Google stated that Content ID had paid out around $2 billion to copyright holders (compared to around $1 billion by 2014), and had cost $60 million to develop.^[1]

Since mid-2018, Google has been beta-testing a new tool called Copyright Match, a simplified version of Content ID with more limited options, which would be available to uploaders with more than 100,000 views.^[7][16] However, contrary to Content ID, which sends copyright notices automatically, with Copyright Match no action is taken until the creator chooses to do so.

In 2006, YouTube and content protection company Audible Magic signed an agreement to license the use of Audible Magic's own "Content ID" fingerprinting technology. When Google bought YouTube in November the same year, the license was transferred to Google.^[17] The agreement was terminated in 2009, but in 2014 Google obtained a trademark for their own "Content ID" implementation.^[18] Audible Magic sued Google the same year on the basis that they owned the "Content ID" trademark and therefore that Google trademarking their implementation was a fraud.

An independent test in 2009 uploaded multiple versions of the same song to YouTube, and concluded that while the system was "surprisingly resilient" in finding copyright violations in the audio tracks of videos, it was not infallible.^[19] The use of Content ID to remove material automatically has led to controversy in some cases, as the videos have not been checked by a human for fair use.^[20]

If a YouTube user disagrees with a decision by Content ID, it is possible to fill in a form disputing the decision.^[21] However, this claim is sent directly to the party that owns the supposed copyright, who has the final decision in the matter unless legal action is pursued. If the reporting party denies their claim, the channel receives a strike. If a channel receives three strikes, it is removed from the platform. Prior to 2016, videos weren't monetized until the dispute was resolved.

In December 2013, Google changed the way the system worked (seemingly to cover YouTube in case of lawsuits), leading to numerous content creation copyright notices being sent to YouTube accounts. Those notices led to ad revenues being automatically diverted to third parties, which sometimes had no connection to the games.^[22][23]

Since April 2016, videos continue to be monetized while the dispute is in progress, and the money goes to whoever won the dispute.^[24] Should the uploader want to monetize the video again, they may remove the disputed audio in the "Video Manager".^[25] YouTube has cited the effectiveness of Content ID as one of the reasons why the site's rules were modified in December 2010 to allow some users to upload videos of unlimited length.^[26]

The music industry has criticized Content ID as inefficient, with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) estimating in a 2015 filing to the US Copyright Office "that Content ID fails to identify upwards of 40 percent of the use of UMPG’s compositions on YouTube".^[1][27] Google has countered these assertions by stating that (as of 2016) Content ID detected over 98% of known copyright infringement on YouTube and humans filing removal notices only 2%.^[1]

In January 2018, a YouTube uploader who created a white noise generator received copyright notices about a video he uploaded which was created using this tool and therefore contained only white noise.^[28]

In September 2018, a German university professor uploaded videos with several classical music performances for which their copyright had expired, because both the composers were dead long ago, and the performances were not covered anymore by copyright. After he received several copyright violations by YouTube, he could lift the majority of them, but Deutsche Grammophon refused to lift two of them even if their copyright had expired.^[29][30][31] In other cases, copyright violations notices were even sent to uploaders who recorded themselves playing public domain classical music, with Sony Music asserting copyright over more than 1,100 compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach via Content ID.^[32] Commentators noted that this was also the case on other platforms such as Facebook.^[33]

In December 2018 TheFatRat complained that Content ID gave preference to an obvious scammer who used the automated system to claim ownership of his content and thereby steal his revenue.^[34]

In April 2019, WatchMojo - one of the largest YouTube channels with over 20 million subscribers and 15 billion views with an extensive library of videos that rely on fair use - released a video that relied on its 10-year experiences managing claims and strikes via Content ID to highlight instances of alleged abuse.^[35] In a follow-up video, the channel estimated that rights holders had unlawfully claimed over $2 billion from 2014–19.^[36][37]

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YouTube copyright issues

YouTube copyright issues

YouTube copyright issues relate to how the Google-owned site implements its protection methods. The systems are designed to protect the exclusivity of a given creator and owner and the rights to reproduce their work. YouTube uses automated measures such as copyright strikes, Content ID and Copyright Verification Program. These methods have been criticized for favoring corporations and their use of copyright claims to limit usage of uploaded content.

Universal Music Publishing Group

Universal Music Publishing Group

Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a North American music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. It was formerly known as MCA Music Publishing until it merged with PolyGram.

White noise

White noise

In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used, with this or similar meanings, in many scientific and technical disciplines, including physics, acoustical engineering, telecommunications, and statistical forecasting. White noise refers to a statistical model for signals and signal sources, rather than to any specific signal. White noise draws its name from white light, although light that appears white generally does not have a flat power spectral density over the visible band.

Deutsche Grammophon

Deutsche Grammophon

Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of labels in 1999. It is the oldest surviving established record company.

Sony Music

Sony Music

Sony Music Entertainment (SME), simply known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Sony Entertainment and managed by the American umbrella division of Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony. It is the recording division half of the Sony Music Group, with the other half being the publishing division, Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV).

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the Brandenburg Concertos; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schubler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American technology giant Meta Platforms. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, its name derives from the face book directories often given to American university students. Membership was initially limited to only Harvard students, gradually expanding to other North American universities and, since 2006, anyone over 13 years old. As of December 2022, Facebook claimed 2.96 billion monthly active users, and ranked third worldwide among the most visited websites. It was the most downloaded mobile app of the 2010s.

TheFatRat

TheFatRat

Christian Friedrich Johannes Büttner, known professionally as TheFatRat, is a German DJ, record producer and musician. His genre is often described as "glitch-hop". He is best known for his 2016 extended play Jackpot which reached 23 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart. He peaked at 15 on Billboard's Next Big Sound chart in February 2015.

WatchMojo

WatchMojo

WatchMojo is a private company in video producing, publishing and syndicator that is based in Canada. The company has created around 20,000 videos on YouTube and 5,000 additional videos from other platforms. It is primarily known for their top ten lists pertaining to entertainment and pop culture and has a large presence on YouTube. WatchMojo has around 30 million subscribers with a peak of 110 million viewers. In more recent years, WatchMojo has included separate channels including: Ms.Mojo, MojoPlays, WatchMojo UK, and WatchMojo Russia.