YouTube’s Right to Fair Use to be protected

To combat the unwarranted removal of YouTube videos, Google said it plans to offer legal support to some content creators who upload videos to YouTube and are later hit with copyright claims.

Google said it will stand up to wrongful requests to remove content by targeting a select few of the best examples of fair use and even agreeing to defend their creators in court if necessary.

“We’ll keep the videos live on YouTube in the US, feature them in the YouTube Copyright Centre as strong examples of fair use, and cover the cost of any copyright lawsuits brought against them,” wrote Fred von Lohmann, Google’s copyright legal director, on the company’s public policy blog.

Under the fair use doctrine, videos -- and any form of media -- that take music, television clips and images and transform the content in new and beneficial ways, such as satire, are protected.

Examples of fair use videos protected by YouTube might include network television news footage with political analysis added by the YouTube uploader. Many YouTube clips otherwise protected by fair use are still often the targets of DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notices.

Google has already offered legal support to a handful of creators of videos that it believes represent clear fair use and have been subject to DMCA takedowns. Google will keep the videos live on YouTube in the US, with the permission of the video creators.

The tech giant’s announcement was applauded by free speech advocates.