Copyright Takedowns
If you’ve worked as a creator for any length of time, you’re probably familiar with the systems used to police copyrighted materials on social media; chances are, you’ve probably found yourself on the receiving end of a notice at least once. The tools offered by the platforms make sense in the abstract, a way for both users and technology to pair to prevent the misuse of copyrighted works. And it would seem to be effective; the number of takedowns from Facebook and YouTube/Google reaches the millions.
But even the best-intended ideas can be misused by bad actors, and that is often the case when it comes to copyright claims on social media. While there are undoubtedly legitimate good-faith reports made every day by those who are indeed the victims of infringement, the system has also become subject to abuse at the hands of those willing to exploit the system for their own benefit, or to the overreach of filters meant to prevent piracy or infringement.
So why are these people making fraudulent claims? In some cases, they’re looking to remove the competition and shift search engines in their favor. Others use it as a tool against any criticism or negative reviews. Some try to assert rights they don’t even have.
In other instances, it’s not individuals abusing the system but overzealous automated copyright filters that prove machines still lack the judgment and intuition needed in many of these cases, as one German music professor’s experiment proved.
What can creators do in the face of these potentially overwhelming issues? How can they combat what seems like a broken system? The first and most important step is for creators to understand their ownership rights of content they’ve made and their rights around fair use. Registering your work on the blockchain using RightsLedger platforms can help to prove ownership and authorship and can help to dispel any disputes that might arise. And regardless of what filters or takedown trolls might assert, you have a right to use unlicensed copyrighted works for a specific set of purposes, like criticism or research, under the fair use doctrine.
Perhaps most importantly, you control what you do with your work after you create it, and you can decide where you post it online. While certain social media companies try to make you believe that their platforms are the only options, every creator has choices and options in how they want to distribute their work, particularly if they want to monetize it. In the fight over content rights, ownership, and monetization, the greatest tool creators have is their creativity and ownership of their work, and holding on to that power is vital in winning the fight.
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