Did YouTube Really Block Michelle Obama's DNC Speech for Copyright Infringement?

[Lauren Weinstein]

http://j.mp/OQe20R  (This message on Google+)
http://j.mp/OQexrV  (Slate, via NNSquad)

  "Either way, this amounts to something less than a copyright apocalypse.
  Michelle Obama's speech is still available on plenty of other YouTube
  channels, including here, here, and here. But on the heels of the Hugo
  Awards debacle, it's another reminder of the need for human vigilance
  against overzealous digital-rights-management algorithms.  In a statement
  chalking up the glitch to "a technical error on YouTube," an Obama
  campaign official added, "We do not expect tonight's coverage will be
  affected." Copyright bots, the gauntlet has been thrown!"

Irrespective of this particular case, this whole area (not just YouTube) of
automated content flagging needs serious attention from a number of
standpoints.  Here's an example of what has happened to me (and many other
people).  I uploaded a video of mine that included a segment of old,
definitely public domain material.  Shortly thereafter, my entire vid was
flagged by YouTube's Content ID.  Why?  It took some digging to figure out,
but it turns out a Content ID partner had uploaded a video of their own that
happened to include a section of the same public domain material I had used.
This apparently made it look like my video was infringing, since Content ID
assumed the section of my vid that matched their vid was in violation.
Wrong!  But Content ID partners get the assumption of being correct, and
there's no way for an average user to assert that something is public domain
a priori.  I was able to get this reversed by careful explanation on the
appropriate forms, but I wonder how many people would just throw up their
arms and say, "To hell with it!" and not bother?  This is not an easy
situation to solve, but the explicit assumption that Content ID partners are
correct and that takedowns or other actions are immediate -- with a protest
required to get blocks, etc. removed after the fact, strikes me as
increasingly problematic.

Lauren Weinstein (lauren at vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org  +1 (818) 225-2800

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