Google launches YouTube video-blocking contraption
Calls it something else
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Google has unveiled a long-awaited "video fingerprinting" system for YouTube.
Dubbed YouTube Video Identification, the system does what Google has been promising to do since June: It gives content owners the power to block copyrighted clips as they're uploaded to the popular video-sharing service.
But Google prefers not to focus on the blocking bit. "Video Identification is the next step in a long list of content policies and tools that we have provided copyright owners so that they can more easily identify their content and manage how it is made available on YouTube," read a blog post from David King, YouTube product manager.
If you supply the system with a copyrighted video, it creates a fingerprint capable of identifying the clip when it's uploaded by the masses. Then you can choose to block uploads. But that's not all. You can also allow uploads. And you can ask YouTube to post ads alongside your video and slip you a share of the profits.
"Video Identification goes above and beyond our legal responsibilities," King continued. "It will help copyright holders identify their works on YouTube, and choose what they want done with their videos: whether to block, promote, or even — if a copyright holder chooses to license their content to appear on the site — monetize their videos."
You can read more about the system here. Naturally, it's still in beta.
How difficult will it be for content owners to identify all those copyrighted videos? How accurate will the fingerprints be? Will the fingerprints identity portions of copyrighted clips? We'll see. Google did not respond to our request for an interview.
One thing's for sure: This contraption is late. In July, as Google battled lawsuits from Viacom and so many others over YouTube copyright infringement, a company attorney said it was hoping to have a fingerprinting system ready in September. It's now the middle of October. If you're keeping score at home. ®
COMMENTS
Something like Shazam?
If boffins can get Shazam to recognise millions of copyrighted songs from a short segment played down a mobile phone, then I reckon a similar technology could do the same with video....
fair use?
Will this incorrecftly flag up vids with clips from copyrighted files? Under fair use you are allowed to use them for critical purposes.
Finger sniffer
Why is your version of what is happening to Google correct?
Google don't police content (because they can't). Uploaders are almost entirely not innfringing copyrights. The skew is that "no copyright infringement in 1million accounts" isn't news, whereas "twenty 'pirates' on YouTube were arrested..." IS. So you self-select the worst.
Google are making most of their money off the content put there by the copyright holders. The copyright holders are OK with this. If they aren't, then they should say so. If they don't like that, then get the state to interfere by bringing criminal charges (Piracy is theft, remember, with the allusion [unstated because it's WRONG] that downloading movies is piracy), it's theft and criminal, let the police decide where they will do their work.
Oh, and if you state that you own something and don't, expect to see fraud charges returning your way. Hey, you tried to steal my content by saying that you can stop me from using it. If you don't have that right, that's fraudulent.
Oh, and Tim, in many cases the sports coverage was
a) public
b) minimal
so not infringing.
Or am I in trouble for telling you that South Africa won against Fiji?
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