Youtube Signs Licensing Deal to Filter Copyright Material on Site

Youtube has signed a licensing deal with Audible Magic, a technology-filtering firm, to filter copyrighted material from its site, according to the San Jose Mercury News, which broke the news before it's official announcement. For months, Youtube has had to field complaints from copyright holders such as Viacom, which only recently requested that the Internet site remove over 100,000 videos, including clips of shows like "SpongeBobSquarePants." NBC Universal and Fox Corp. have also been vocal in their criticisms of the sites unwillingness to deal with copyright infringements. Since September, Youtube has agreed to screen such material in its site, but have been stalled in implementing filtering technology by Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, who has been trying to work out licensing deals with the major studios in the meantime. Copyright holders are complaining that Google is using the licensing deal with Audible Magic as a leverage during negotiations.

Audible Magic, a Los-Gatos based firm founded in 1999, was mentioned in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer vs. Grokster case as evidence that the technology for piracy prevention was available to fire-sharing services. Originally formed to deal with the monitoring of broadcast radio, Audible Magic bought the audio fingerprinting techonology, which screens out copyrighted material, from Berkeley-based software company Muscle Fish, after acquiring the company in 2000. The technology is used by such peer-to-peer services as iMesh, a music-sharing site, and the Sony-owned video-sharing site, Grouper.

While this technology might waylay future actions against Youtube, it has not quelled complaints from copyright holders who feel the site is infringing upon their rights. What also remains to be seen is whether Youtube will remain popular. While viral videos tend to be the more popular material posted on the site, copyright material is also popular with audiences, particularly material that has not been made available in other formats. The site's underground and egalitarian reputation could also be compromised by Schmidt's deal with major studios. Media corporations will most likely use Youtube only for marketing purposes, while pushing quirkier and less profit-generating material to the wayside. What's more, other sites, such as France's Dailymotion.com and Denmark's Peekvids.com, which screens full-length movies and pirated TV shows, could lure audiences away from Youtube. In an interview with the Mercury News, Jesse Drew, acting director of the technocultural studies program at University of California-Davis, says: "These things [sites] become popular because they are underground and free and accessible.''

Source: Ackerman, Elise. "Google to start filtering Youtube videos." San Jose Mercury News. January 22, 2007. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/16762023.htm