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The Bizarre State of Copyright

2014-08-15 · explainer · Hank · 3:56 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: US politics & society) · mode: Explainer

Hank explains copyright, patents, trademarks and fair use, and argues that on YouTube copyright is now policed by Content ID rather than by law: not the fairest or most legal solution, but the only possible one, and kind of cool.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; last week's meningitis song stole Calvin Harris's 'Summer'; a brave new copyright world where solutions are technological

  • ★★ Last week (week of 4 August 2014) Hank made John a song about his inflamed nervous system using the instrumental of Calvin Harris's 'Summer' — a blatant copyright violation that is somehow okay. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ Hank says we live in a brave new copyright world where the solutions are no longer legal but technological. — 00:00:10

00:00:23 — Intellectual property: three ways to own it in the US — copyright, patents, trademarks (McDonald's)

  • ★★ Intellectual property is the idea that you can own things that are not physical objects; in the US there are three ways to own it. — 00:00:23 · United States
  • ★★ Anything you create, like this video, is protected by copyright because you made it; ideas cannot be copyrighted but can sometimes be patented. — 00:00:30
  • ★★ Controlling an idea is weirder and scarier, so the US government regulates patents, which must be applied for and granted. — 00:00:37 · United States
  • ★★ Trademarks assign symbols or words to a company or product — McDonald's logo, name and 'I'm lovin' it' — so no one else can run a look-alike McDonald's. — 00:00:50

00:01:06 — Copyright started simple; fair use for critique (a Reservoir Dogs clip); only a judge decides fair use

  • ★★ Copyright started out simple: you own your words in that order, so no one can republish them as their own book, which used to happen all the time. — 00:01:06
  • ★★★ Critiquing a work or society sometimes needs bits of others' work, like a Reservoir Dogs clip in a video on screen violence; that is legal fair use, copyrighted material used for societal good inside another work. — 00:01:28
  • ★★★ Even when any judge would obviously call something fair use, only a judge can actually decide whether it is. — 00:01:53

00:02:05 — On YouTube copyright is technological: Content ID matches every upload; rights holders block or monetize; disputes; his hankschannel video

  • ★★★ Copyright on YouTube today is more a technological system than a legal one, because there is too much content for any lawyer to review every upload. — 00:02:05 · YouTube
  • ★★★ YouTube's Content ID, a 'robotic lawyer', compares every uploaded video with a massive library of songs, films and TV shows; Hank calls it a little bit of a miracle. — 00:02:18 · YouTube
  • ★★★ When Content ID finds a clip, the rights owner may do nothing, take the video down or, most likely, monetize it — like a retroactive licence Hank says he shouldn't owe for fair use, though he could dispute it. — 00:02:39
  • ★ Hank points to a whole video he made about disputing copyright claims on hankschannel. — 00:03:07 · hankschannel

00:03:14 — Why he could use Calvin Harris's song; not the best, most legal or fairest solution but the only possible one, and kind of cool; sign-off

  • ★★ That is why he could use Calvin Harris's song: Calvin Harris gets the video's money, and Hank need not negotiate with a record label at ten at night on a Thursday. (playful) — 00:03:14
  • ★★★ Hank's big point: Content ID is not the best, most legal or fairest solution, but the most possible — really the only possible — one. — 00:03:30
  • ★★★ Frankly it's kind of cool: Hank can violate copyright without losing his channel, YouTube avoids being sued out of existence, and rights holders get another revenue stream (for fancier yacht parties). (playful) — 00:03:40 · YouTube

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Content ID · copyright · fair use · intellectual property · YouTube

Also: People: Calvin Harris

Projects: hankschannel

Works: Reservoir Dogs · Summer

Organizations: Federal government of the United States · McDonald's

Concepts: patent · trademark

Places: United States

Also centred on Content ID: We Have Destroyed Copyright Law

Also centred on copyright: August 31: Copyright and Airports · Top 5 Reasons ████ ██ ██████ · Old Man Narrates Young Girl · On the Ownership of Ideas · Across Three Continents: A Tale of Tumblr, Copyright, and Excellent Posters · Who Owns a Monkey's Selfie? And a Song About Meningitis!

Also centred on fair use: Top 5 Reasons ████ ██ ██████ · Old Man Narrates Young Girl

Also centred on intellectual property: On the Ownership of Ideas · Who Owns Nerdfighteria?

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