Google has failed to set up any effective anti-piracy measures for YouTube. This is the recent charge made by artists including Taylor Swift, U2 and Paul McCartney.
The search engine giant recently released a report detailing how it paid more than $2 billion to copyright owners through a new anti-piracy YouTube tool called Content ID.
However, music groups such as the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and the International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI) described Content ID as inadequate to stop online piracy in YouTube, according to the BBC.
Content ID is basically a tool in YouTube that alerts copyright holders if their materials have been uploaded by unauthorized sources. The holder can either have the content blocked or insert ads to the video. Money earned from the ads will then go directly to legitimate owner and not to the one who uploaded it.
Google stated in their report that most music copyright owners choose the latter. The company also claimed that it has collected around 50 million data files and has invested at least $60 million to develop the anti-piracy tool.
The report did little to appease the music industry. Many artists including Taylor Swift are now pushing for the amendment of the Digital Millennium Copyrights Act or DMCA. The artists wanted to hold internet services such as YouTube liable for the unauthorized music uploaded by its members or users.
Experts believed that YouTube is doing its share in the fight against piracy. It introduced a novel way for artists and copyright owners to make money off the pirated videos. It's puzzling why artists are still complaining that Google and YouTube are not doing enough.
Fortune reporter Jeff Roberts believed that the simple reason is money. Artists are not earning as much in the digital age compared to the days when they were mostly selling theirs songs on CDs. Taylor Swift and her colleagues somehow believe that punishing YouTube will restore the earnings they have lost.
