How YouTube's New Copyright School Will Work

By Eriq Gardner
THR, Esq. | Article Link

Given its various legal tussels over the years, we found it funny that YouTube is now requiring those who are flagged for copyright abuse to watch a nearly five minute cartoon meant to educate users about the site's copyright policies.

According to YouTube's blog, the company has modified its procedure once a user is notified for putting up a video that allegedly infringes upon someone else's copyrighted material. Under the old system, users got "strikes," and multiple violations could result in an account suspension. YouTube now says that the "one-size-fits-all suspension rule doesn’t always lead to the right result," so it has begun a program whereby flagged users go to "YouTube Copyright School" and can get strikes removed upon successful completion of the program.

The first step is watching this cartoon:



It's mostly standard fare, though the section on "fair use" is written in high legalese and its description is sped up 2 or 3 times, which will no doubt confuse some.

At very least, it's a better attempt than this "Copyright School," which comes via the Copyright Litigation Blog. The video is fairly wrong on a number of scores, and arguably a violation of some song copyrights, but it is nevertheless amusingly creepy thanks to the thoughtless recapitulations of young school children. Can you teach a First Grader about when it's appropriate to see artwork from Wassily Kadinsky in the classroom? Watch:



For our money, though, this one is still the best one out there. Sorry, Disney.