YouTube will protect certain YouTube videos in the US against copyright infringement under the fair use policy by offering to defend them in court (and subsequently pay for legal fees), the company said in a blog post. It will allow creators to keep certain copyrighted material like music or TV clips (including parody and critique) to “help discussion and creativity” to flourish, including videos which have been subject to DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedowns. The company will also keep the videos live in the US on the platform with permission from the creators and feature them in the the YouTube Copyright Center as examples of fair use, while covering legal costs of copyright lawsuits. It says the reason to protect certain videos comes because DMCA’s counter notification process could be intimidating for creators, and along side, this will also help in creating a “demo reel” for fair use, helping other creators and copyright owners. YouTube will also continue to resist legally unsupported DMCA takedowns as a part of its normal processes. Under the legal doctrine of fair use, copyright protected material can be used without permission under certain circumstances. Different countries have different rules about fair use. In the US, a judge determines fair use by the following factors: If the purpose and character of use is for nonprofit educational purposes Nature of the copyrighted work (factual works are more likely to be fair than fiction) Amount and sustainability of the content used in relation to the copyrighted work as…
