Youtube
1. Youtube
Naturally, all of this free speech creates controversy. Where there is free speech, it won’t be long before there is censorship, copyright infringement, and legal battles over privacy rights. One clear example that highlights these concerns is the creation of mash-up videos. Mash-up videos are videos created by an author splicing video clips from existing sources with audio from other sources. For example, a Harry Potter fan might slice various clips from the many Harry Potter movies that have been released in order to create a false trailer for an upcoming movie. He or she might add cool music to the background or eye-catching titles to grab the audience's attention. He or she might also add fitting voice-overs to compliment the music playing in the background. The video author is creating a new work of art from existing resources, but the controversy comes in because the author has used someone else’s copyrighted work.
YouTube has an obligation to remove videos that violate national and international copyright laws. Typically, it is the music companies that have been enforcing their copyrights, so YouTube’s response is often to mute the audio track on a mash-up video. Some cry “censorship,” but the issues are never quite that simple. Unfortunately, if one tries to use YouTube as source to learn more about what does and what does not apply as copyright infringement, one will find videos from multiple perspectives on the issue. There aren’t many lawyers who have posted clear instructions for users on this matter.
The process of censoring videos on YouTube is also highly subjective. YouTube employees may do some direct observation of user videos, but the website relies more heavily on its users to report suspicious activity. On each video page there is a red flag that displays under the video player that a viewer can click on to flag the video as inappropriate. Clicking on this link will take the viewer to a page where they can explain why they believe
Naturally, all of this free speech creates controversy. Where there is free speech, it won’t be long before there is censorship, copyright infringement, and legal battles over privacy rights. One clear example that highlights these concerns is the creation of mash-up videos. Mash-up videos are videos created by an author splicing video clips from existing sources with audio from other sources. For example, a Harry Potter fan might slice various clips from the many Harry Potter movies that have been released in order to create a false trailer for an upcoming movie. He or she might add cool music to the background or eye-catching titles to grab the audience's attention. He or she might also add fitting voice-overs to compliment the music playing in the background. The video author is creating a new work of art from existing resources, but the controversy comes in because the author has used someone else’s copyrighted work.
YouTube has an obligation to remove videos that violate national and international copyright laws. Typically, it is the music companies that have been enforcing their copyrights, so YouTube’s response is often to mute the audio track on a mash-up video. Some cry “censorship,” but the issues are never quite that simple. Unfortunately, if one tries to use YouTube as source to learn more about what does and what does not apply as copyright infringement, one will find videos from multiple perspectives on the issue. There aren’t many lawyers who have posted clear instructions for users on this matter.
The process of censoring videos on YouTube is also highly subjective. YouTube employees may do some direct observation of user videos, but the website relies more heavily on its users to report suspicious activity. On each video page there is a red flag that displays under the video player that a viewer can click on to flag the video as inappropriate. Clicking on this link will take the viewer to a page where they can explain why they believe