YouTube bows to Japanese pressure over copyright, says lobby group

Adam Turner
Wednesday, 20 December 2006 09:43

Your IT - Home IT

YouTube executives will meet with Japanese media firms to address concerns over copyrighted material uploaded to the video-sharing site, according to a leading Japanese copyright lobby group.

In the short term YouTube will post warnings in Japanese against uploading copyrighted materials, according to a letter to the The Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) - posted on the Society's website.

Last month JASRAC demanded - on behalf of 23 Japanese TV stations and entertainment companies - that YouTube implement a system to prevent the users from uploading copyrighted video. The Society set a deadline of December 15, with YouTube requesting an extension over the weekend so it can meet face to face with the Society to discuss the situation.

Last month's complaint was made to YouTube two months after it deleted almost 30,000 Japanese video clips in response to copyright holders' concerns, only to see many of the clips re-posted by users.

YouTube's policy has been to remove clips that infringe copyright after it receives complaints, but under new owner Google it insists it's working on a better system. YouTube has already agreed to employ audio signature technology to detect copyrighted music, but Google has also set aside a $US200 million war chest for YouTube indemnification.