With the assistance of Jimquisition’s Jim Sterling, YouTube has recently announced a new scheme to protect fair use and combat iffy copyright claims.
As part of the scheme, YouTube will pledge up to $1 million USD worth of legal fees to protect videos it deems should be protected under fair use. Sterling’s video is only one of four — and the only game-related clip — currently protected under the new scheme.
Sterling explains the scheme below:
“More than 400 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Some of those uploads make use of existing content, like music or TV clips, in new and transformative ways that have social value beyond the original (such as a parody or critique). In the U.S. this activity is often protected by fair use, a crucial exception to copyright law which can help discussion and creativity across different mediums to continue flourishing,” Google said, announcing the scheme on its blog.
“YouTube will now protect some of the best examples of fair use on YouTube by agreeing to defend them in court if necessary,” it continued. “We are offering legal support to a handful of videos that we believe represent clear fair uses which have been subject to DMCA takedowns. With approval of the video creators, we’ll keep the videos live on YouTube in the U.S., feature them in the YouTube Copyright Center as strong examples of fair use, and cover the cost of any copyright lawsuits brought against them.”
We’ll have more on the scheme as it’s made available.
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