YouTube Alters Copyright Policy, Aims To Make Manual Claiming Fairer For The Creators

Updating the creators on the state of its copyright policy, YouTube recently announced some substantial changes via a new blog post. If you happen to be a YouTube creator or even a user of the app, you would know how the copyright system plagues the lives of content creators on YouTube. Currently, there are two ways to issue a copyright claim against a video. Either it's done manually by the rights-holders which can sometimes involve the targeting of videos with a large number of views and short/unintended use of copyrighted audio material. Or it is done automatically through YouTube's content ID match system. The latest developments bring changes to the Manual claiming policies aiming for more fair use of the feature. While this doesn't necessarily come off as a full proof solution, it definitely is a step in the right direction and seems like YouTube is finally listening to all the feedback it had been receiving in the past few months from some top-tier YouTubers like PewDiePie and Mr Beast regarding the faulty copyright system which was getting worse by the minute. A lot of creators on the platform have come forward to report on how their videos tend to receive copyright claims even when the use of copyrighted material is unintentional and not to mention, only spanning over a few seconds and as less as 3 seconds in some extreme cases. One such recent and thoroughgoing video was uploaded by a gaming channel on YouTube called 'InfernoPlus', while, popular YouTuber 'AngryJoeShow' who has a massive subscriber base of 3 million users also uploaded an update video on the same subject following up his famous rant from 5 years ago. Going in detail about the intricacies of the copyright system, the blog post reads "Including someone else’s content without permission — regardless of how short the clip is — means your video can still be claimed and copyright owners will still be able to prevent monetization or block the video from being viewed. However, going forward, our policies will forbid copyright owners from using our Manual Claiming tool to monetize creator videos with very short or unintentional uses of music. This change only impacts claims made with the Manual Claiming tool, where the rightsholder is actively reviewing the video. Claims created by the Content ID match system, which are the vast majority, are not impacted by this policy. Without the option to monetize, some copyright owners may choose to leave very short or unintentional uses unclaimed. Others may choose to prevent monetization of the video by any party. And some may choose to apply a block policy. As always, the best way to avoid these issues is to not use unlicensed content in your videos, even when it’s unintentional music playing in the background (i.e. vlogging in a store with music playing in the background). Instead, choose content from trusted sources such as the YouTube Audio Library, which has new tracks added every month. If you do find yourself with an unintended claim, you can use our editing tools to remove the claimed content and the restrictions that come with it. And, of course, if you feel that your use qualifies for an exception to copyright, like Fair Use, be sure you understand what that means and how our dispute process works before uploading your video." The new changes will come in place by mid-September giving the copyright owners plenty of time to adapt to the new system, in failure of which, their right to manual claiming will be suspended. The concept of claiming content on YouTube and even copyright, in general, is a notion based on good intentions since it protects the rights of artists and songwriters but over the years and especially on YouTube, the concept hasn't been integrated properly but needless to say, things are looking up for both creators and musicians as the platform seems to be steadily working towards a solution that would only target unfair use of copyrighted material.