YouTube will defend videos against ‘legally unsupported’ DMCA takedowns

Google-owned YouTube will defend certain videos against “legally unsupported” Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices.

Yesterday, November 19, Fred von Lohmann, copyright legal director at Google, published a blog post stating that the company will assist users who post videos that make fair use of copyright-protected content in a legal battle with a right owner.

“We are offering legal support to a handful of videos that we believe represent clear fair uses, which have been subject to DMCA takedowns.

“We’re doing this because we recognise that creators can be intimidated by the DMCA’s counter notification process, and the potential for litigation that comes with it,” von Lohmann added.

Google will provide funds to users to fight unfair DMCA claims, will not remove the videos from YouTube, and will use them as examples of fair use in the YouTube Copyright Center, an information resource.

“While we can’t offer legal protection to every video creator—or even every video that has a strong fair use defence—we’ll continue to resist legally unsupported DMCA takedowns as part of our normal processes,” von Lohmann concluded.