YouTube fights copyright battle with silence
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If the video you're trying to watch on YouTube isn't playing any sound, chances are it isn't your speakers that are busted - it's more likely that copyright laws were broken.
In the latest chapter of YouTube's ongoing dispute with Warner Music Group over rights to its songs, the online video sharing site is allowing users to mute videos they've uploaded that violate copyright laws. Previously, the Google-owned company either yanked the videos or forced users to swap the soundtrack with its "pre-cleared music."
In response to media inquiries about the change, a YouTube spokesman pointed to a statement released Wednesday afternoon through its blog.
"We want you to have options when uploading videos with music in them. And if your video is subject to a copyright claim, you should have some choices too," said the statement signed, "the YouTube team."
The company said many of its users are using the newly introduced option to mute.
Doing so adds this message to the bottom of videos: "This video contains an audio track that has not been authorized by all copyright holders. The audio has been disabled."
In December, 2008, Warner Music Group forced YouTube to cut off access to videos on the site containing Warner music after talks between the companies over licensing agreements collapsed.
YouTube warned its users at the time that they "may notice videos that contain music owned by Warner Music Group being blocked from the site."
On Wednesday, YouTube said music licensing "can get very complicated." The company added it's "working to find the right balance between encouraging creativity and free expression and respecting the rights of copyright holders and the law."
Warner could not be reached for comment. However, a spokeswoman from the company told Wired's Epicenter blog that the muting policy was Google's idea.
The response to Google's blog post was less than supportive.
"Fail," wrote one person. "Complete and utter fail."
Another person who responded said Google should pay for rights to use the songs.
"I guess since you guys are making money off of our videos, you should pay the companies to leave the audio how it is."
There was a measure of sympathy for YouTube: "YouTube is the wrong party to be complaining to about this," wrote one person. "It's the copyright holders who are holding YouTube responsible for infringing their rights."
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