In a move to balance the needs of music copyright holders and its content-generating users, YouTube on Wednesday said it’s offering more options to users who violate copyrights. The result is hundreds of videos without sound.
The move seems to be in response to a Warner Music Group demand in December that YouTube cut off access to videos that contain Warner music. The demand came after negotiations on licensing agreements stalled.
At that time, YouTube warned users that they “may notice videos that contain music owned by Warner Music Group being blocked from the site.” YouTube is no longer threatening. It has moved to block the music content while trying to appease users. Many users, however, are up in arms about the change.
YouTube’s Compromise
Previously, when a music label or other rights owner issued a copyright claim to block audio, YouTube automatically took the video down. Uploaders had two choices: dispute the claim — in the case of fair use, for example — or use YouTube’s AudioSwap tool to replace the track with one from a library of approved music.
“Music licensing can get very complicated, but we try to make your experience as simple as possible,” YouTube’s blog said. “We want you to have options when uploading videos with music in them. And if your video is subject to a copyright claim, you should have some choices, too.”
YouTube has been fingerprinting audio tracks and informing users when they infringe on copyrights. The copyright owner got the option of having the video removed or letting it stay up along with revenue-generating ads.
Now instead of a video being removed, users have an option to modify the video by removing the disputed music and posting a new version. YouTube reports that many of its users are taking that option.
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