(6) Abuse of ContentID

Is ContentID a foolproof system?

Youtube heavily uses their ContentID system to regulate the videos on their website. The reason for this is due to the extremely large number of videos that are uploaded daily. Youtube employees would be unable to check every single video posted to the website, thus ContentID is used. This system uses a database to check videos for duplicate content. It will scan the video to see if it is the same as a copyrighted video within the ContentID database. If there is a match, then the appropriate action will be taken against the video and the uploader. 

There are some flaws with ContentID though. With certain video editing techniques, people can bypass the system and keep their video on the website. The first thing to note is that ContentID generally scans videos for exact matches. This means that by altering the video someone could post it to Youtube without the ContentID system recognizing it. There are several ways of doing this. On way is to mirror the video. This means that the video will appear to be flipped as if you were watching it through a mirror. Another way is to change the size of the video. By shrinking the video and putting it in the corner, it can trick the ContentID system. Lastly, filters can be placed over the video to mask what it really is. Any one of these method can fool ContentID into thinking that the video isn't in their database.

Why are you bringing this up?

The reason that I am explaining these things is to show that Youtube's attempts to catch copyright infringement isn't perfect. There are countless videos on the website that do abuse copyrights, and yet they remain watchable. Conversely, there are videos that get removed despite not infringing upon a copyright. ContentID will locate parts of a video that match their system and remove them regardless of the manner in which they are used. Youtube doesn't have a perfect system. Even if a video falls within the fair use statute, it can still be taken down. Youtube's automated policy on copyright detection makes it difficult for content creators to showcase their work. Keep in mind that you can be in the right with your video, and it still be accused of copyright infringement. Make sure that your content follows all of the rules so you can avoid any problems with Youtube.