YouTube Paid $1 Billion to Copyright Holders

YouTube has reportedly paid out a whopping $1 billion to various copyright holders since 2007 as part of the Google’s Content ID program.

Content ID Program
According to Google, the program scans 400 years’ worth of content daily in efforts to identify potential copyright issues. They created the program after receiving a great deal of complaints from major TV networks.

Before Google purchased YouTube, the online video site was full of copyrighted programs. Various episodes and clips of episodes flooded the site. Google created the ID in 2007 to compare videos and songs to originals.

When an infringement is found, the TV network with rights to the video content has a choice to make. They can either shut down the violators or profit off them. Should they choose the latter, they would run ads against their content and keep the profit. Most companies choose to profit rather than ban the videos.

This new Content ID program has received a great deal of praise from networks. In fact, YouTube was awarded a Primetime Engineering Emmy Award in 2013.

 Copyright Laws
Unlike a patent or trademark, a copyright is automatically attached when a work is created, and protects against infringement. The creator or their employer is the only one allowed to reproduce the original work. Should anyone infringe upon the owner’s right for financial gain or advantage, they could face copyright infringement charges.

 

Source: jacksonwhitelaw.com