Warner To YouTube: Stop The Music!

According to The New York Times, Warner Music is searching YouTube for songs it holds the copyright on and is requiring that those videos be taken down. YouTube, which is owned by Google, has licensing agreements with other major music companies; only those copyrighted by Warner are affected.

Last year, Warner and YouTube had a deal that permitted videos using Warner copyrighted content on the video content site. But the deal was not renewed this year; YouTube and its users no longer have access to Warner's library. That deal neither grandfathers in existing content, nor does it discern between a professionally produced music video and an amateur performance.

So now, YouTube's Content ID tool is being used to censor the videos. Back in February, the Electronic Frontier Foundation expressed its concern about the dangers of automated filtering systems, like the Content ID system: "These systems are still primitive and unable to distinguish a tranformative remix from copyright infringement," wrote Fred von Lohmann on the EFF's site. "So unless they leave lots of breathing room for remixed content, these filters end up sideswiping lots of fair uses."