YouTube to stop monetisation of ‘unfair’ manual copyright claims

In an attempt to curb “unfair” and “aggressive” manual copyright claims on its platform, Youtube on Thursday announced further updates to its manual claims policy.

“Today, we’re announcing additional changes to our manual claiming policies intended to improve fairness in the creator ecosystem, while still respecting copyright owners,” the company said on its blog.

Just a month after updating its copyright claims to include timestamp requirements, YouTube is now forbidding copyright owners from monetising videos that include short and accidental snippets of copywritten content.

This means that copyright owners will no longer be able to make money off videos that use small bits of their content, such as songs, movies, and series.

“This change only impacts claims made with the Manual Claiming tool, where the rightsholder is actively reviewing the video,” YouTube noted.

The company believes that this new rule will discourage copyright claimers from reporting insignificant use of content, encouraging fair use.

“Once we start enforcement, copyright owners who repeatedly fail to adhere to these policies will have their access to Manual Claiming suspended,” YouTube also revealed.

The new policies will be in effect as of mid-September.

Feature image: Memeburn