Japanese Group Says YouTube Must Rein in Copyright Violation

By Divya Narain

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

A Japanese copyright advocacy group has asked YouTube, the popular video sharing website, to keep a closer watch on the posted videos for copyright violation.

According to published reports, the Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers has sent a letter, on behalf of 23 Japanese TV stations and entertainment companies, to YouTube, advising the website to ensure that the videos being posted are checked for copyright infringement. Spokesman for the society Takashi Fujii said the letter was addressed to YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen.

“While we expect you to promptly take adequate and necessary measures to prevent copyright infringement on the YouTube website, until you do so, we request you to take provisional measures ... in order to prevent illegal uploads of audio-visual works, which copyrights are neither owned by the persons posting the works on the website themselves nor licensed by the right owners," said the letter, as per a published report.

The group has sought a response from YouTube before December 15.


The group also wants YouTube to have a stricter control over users and require them to register with complete details and face termination of their account in the event of copyright violation.

Millions of videos are posted and watched on YouTube every day and a significant number are those which are uploaded illegally. Only last month the website had to remove almost 30,000 clips when it received a complaint from the Japanese group.

The society has urged YouTube to adopt a more effective system saying that the present system has more or less failed to regulate prohibited uploads.

Analysts believe that YouTube faces quite a risk of being sued for copyright infringement. Acquired recently by Google (News - Alert), the company has entered into revenue-sharing agreements with several entertainment companies including Warner Music, Universal Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment for using their copyrighted content.

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Anuradha Shukla is a contributing editor for TMCnet, covering call centers, CRM and information technology. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.