Hypothetical: someone has posted photos of a person on a website, attached to text suggesting the individual had done something that, if true, the person probably wouldn't want made public. The person in the photos would like these photos removed (and presumably the posts themselves). Who should they (approach/sue) about this?
1. The party that posted the photos and text?
2. The website hosting the photos and text?
3. Google.
4. And Bing... I guess.
It is absolutely true that even when video creators believe that their use is non-infringing because it's fair use, many still won't issue a counter-notice, because the next step, if the copyright holder disagrees, is to go to court. And even if you have a slam dunk case, that can be both time consuming and incredibly expensive. And, of course, if you lose, it can be life-destroying expensive, thanks to the idiocy of statutory damages provisions in copyright law.
This is why YouTube’s announcement is a game-changer: Copyright-based censorship strategies are no longer risk free. Now, before launching an unjustified DMCA takedown, the claimant will have to weigh the risk of going up against Google and its deep pockets in a lawsuit. (The legal environment could get even more interesting in light of a recent ruling in the Prince “dancing baby” that could make it easier for fair use victors to claim legal fees from those who removed their videos).
Every part of that statement is bullshit -- and it's clearly designed to do one thing only: to frighten the caller into just paying up. To tell totally innocent people that they need to hand over their computers to the police for five days and that if anyone else used their computer to infringe that they'll be violating some sort of criminal law is downright disgusting. It just highlights that Rightscorp is in the extortion/shakedown business, rather than actually trying to stop copyright infringement.
This system allows copyright holders, including the major studios, but also smaller companies and individuals, to wildly abuse Youtube’s policies and to restrict the free speech rights of other content creators, to confiscate their earnings, and to damage their livelihood. And abuse it they do: As Doug Walker reveals in his video, he is forced to deal with a copyright takedown notice or other such hassle every other day of the week.
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