YouTube to Financially Support Video Creators?

YouTube has been fighting the copyright infringement for so long and now the video-sharing website is ready to take the legal actions to defend their online film-makers. For so long, the site raises their restrictions over pirated materials but the demand of the legal right owners to take down their videos goes too far.

According to The Guardian, the video sharing company will now offer legal support to some of their clips which Google -- their parent company -- believes not breaching any legal rights. They will also feature a special section on the site to show some examples of the fair usage.

This will help the YouTube to avoid the legal action of US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which gives the right for copyright holders to take down "user generated content" or file expensive lawsuits.

However, even though the aim of the law is to give fair authority for copyright holders, platform owners and subscribers uploading their works on YouTube, it is sometimes abused by the demands of the owners even though they don't have the legal authority over it.

If DMCA tried to take down a work in spite of its fair use, the creator can overture by filing a "counter notification order." However, it will be more complicated to face legal penalties and actions than to just take down the video.

"Creators can be intimidated by the DMCA's counter notification process, and the potential for litigation that comes with it," YouTube's copyright legal director, Fred von Lohmann, said. The Columbus Dispatch reported, the site said that the creators chose to use legal third-party content which is under their "fair use" provisions for commentary, criticism, news and parody

The site rebroadcasted Stephen Colbert's cable news clips as their example for fair use and they waited for the comedian's reaction. Moreover, Constantine Guiliotis, who has a YouTube channel about U.F.O. sightings with 1,000 subscribers, is one of the many video makers the California-based company will defend.

"It was very gratifying to know a company cares about fair use and to single out someone like me," Guiliotis said. YouTube is now supporting about four video creators but said, the number might grow bigger.

"We want, when we can, to have our users' backs," Fred von Lohmann, legal director for copyright at YouTube, said. "We believe even the small number of videos we are able to protect will make a positive impact on the entire YouTube ecosystem."

Watch Guiliotis' video from his UFO Theater channel: