Google Taking Down Private Videos For Copyright Infringement?

from the that-doesn't-seem-right dept

Sure, with a $1 billion lawsuit hanging over its head concerning copyright issues on YouTube (even if Google is confident that it's on the right side of the law), you might understand why Google would be a bit aggressive in its ramped up efforts to police content hosted on YouTube. However, should that aggressive effort apply to videos that aren't public? Chris O'Donnell had posted a personal Christmas video of his family to YouTube using a couple of popular songs as background music -- but he set the video to private, rather than public, and only sent it to a few family friends. A grand total of 3 or 4 people had seen the video. Yet, the video is now gone, as Google sent a notice saying that its automated content checker believed the video contained "unauthorized content."

There's clearly no way that the copyright holders in question would have complained about the video, as there was no way for them to see it. This wasn't a public display or public performance of the content at all, and there may be some questions about fair use -- which, as a court recently reminded folks, needs to be taken into account before DMCA takedowns are sent). Of course, technically there's no DMCA takedown here -- as Google was just doing some self-policing, but it seems like a pretty good question as to why the company is policing private videos that aren't for public consumption.

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