Google Offers Copyright Support to YouTube Users

Google has recently stated that it intends on offering legal support to certain content creators who upload videos on YouTube and are subsequently stuck with copyright claims.

Google has said it is ready to offer legal support to a handful of videos which, have been subject to DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedowns. The DMCA offers copyright holders the possibility to make requests to Google or other sites in order to take down content which falls under the DMCA.

Google has stated that whilst it recognises that it can’t offer legal protection to every video creator, it will continue to resist legally unsupported DMCA takedowns.

Google’s move towards protecting certain videos comes after privacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation successfully defended a person who had uploaded a video of her son dancing to Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy song and which was subsequently removed from YouTube after Universal Music issued a DMCA notice ordering it be taken down.

Google’s copyright legal director has said that it will keep the videos on YouTube in the US and feature them in the YouTube Copyright Centre as examples of fair use. Furthermore, Google will also cover the cost of any copyright lawsuits brought against the content creators.

Furthermore, Google has compiled a list of videos which it has received complaints about and will defend in Court.

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