14 DAY TRIAL // YouTube is updating its Content ID system to make it harder for videos to be taken down without cause. There's a new appeals process and Google says it's improved the way it detects claims which may be erroneous.
YouTube's Content ID system may not be too well known for most people, but it is probably the key to its success.
Content ID enables rights holders to keep their content off YouTube. It enabled YouTube to continue to operate, allow people to upload their creations and not get sued.
But the system also caused plenty of problems since Content ID is heavily skewed towards the content owners. This meant that a lot of videos were taken down erroneously and users had few ways of fighting back.
That is changing somewhat, Google is taking steps to make sure content creators and regular users have a chance to fight back.
The biggest change is the new appeals process. Content ID is a system implemented by YouTube, by its own accord, even if a lot of people confuse it with the legal DMCA takedown process. As such, it didn't have to follow the standard DMCA procedure, to the detriment of users accused of infringing.
The new appeals process enables "eligible" users to better dispute a claim they believe to be false. When an appeal is filed, the original content owner has to file an official DMCA complaint or give up. Given that the Content ID system is automated, having companies file a formal complaint means that there's a greater likelihood that an error will be spotted.
Previously, if the content owner rejected the appeal, users had no more ways of fighting back, at least for some complains like monetization issues.
Another change has to do with the way possibly infringing videos are detected. Now, when there's a greater likelihood that, even though there is a match with some copyrighted content, a video is not infringing it won't be automatically taken down and the match will be put up for manual review.