Since #MakeYoutubeGreatAgain started thanks to channels such as I HATE EVERYTHING, GradeAUnderA, and Channel Awesome got it trending on Twitter, Youtube has been under fire for a lack of response regarding the increasing amount of false copyright claims being made on Youtubers hard work. Being a Youtuber myself, it's been hard to watch as fellow members of the community have had some of their livelihood taken away thanks to people abusing clear Fair Use situations. Well, the Youtube Creators Page has announced a new policy that is to help in refining the system known as Content ID.
One of the biggest gripes that have come from the current Youtube Content ID system had to do with monetization. When another party claimed the video, all revenue of ads played on the video would go to that third party in question, and none to the creator. What made this worse was the fact that even if the creator was found to be in the right: the revenue that the other party got during that time would not be given to the winner of the conflict. Well, that's changed, as Youtube is now putting the revenue into a "Piggy Bank" of sorts, where the money stays in a separate account until the Content ID is sorted out.
Now, there still seems to be holes in the process in question, such as the period between when the third party claims the video, and when the dispute of the claim goes in, it seems the claimer still makes the money in question from this diagram. Whether or not there's a time hold to be implemented, is something that's unknown at this time.
In addition, YouTube acknowledges that the Content ID process needs to be made better. While reiterating that they are still behind the Fair Use protection program, they have indicated that they are still using teams to do manual reviews of invalid claims against the system. They do address that those who abuse the system could have their tools completely taken away, but it does not give guidelines of what amount constitutes an abuse of the system.
Quick Take
It's a start, but it's got a long way to go. While it may help to take away a reason for false claims, current content ID and DMCA takedown implementations don't do a good job in dealing with Fair Use as a whole, which I believe is one of the biggest issues that Youtube creators face now a days. While yes, this does help, it also indicates that this will be rolled on to partner in the coming months, and given Youtube's slowness on new tools that creators actually want right here and now, who knows when it will truly be implemented. And it feels like a bandaid over a bigger issues to be honest. But hey, at least they did something.
