32 / 66
30
YOUTUBE
many lawsuits from companies and individuals claiming that YouTube
does not do enough to prevent copyright infringement.
YouTube has taken many steps to prevent users from breaking the law,
but there is only so much the company can do. When users attempt to
upload a video, a message is displayed warning them of the rules of the
website. These rules need to be agreed to before a video is uploaded.
If users break the rules, they can have their accounts suspended and all
their content deleted.
On the other hand, YouTube protects user-generated content. Every
single video that is uploaded to YouTube, even a home video, is copy-
righted by default once it is uploaded. That means YouTube users can’t
steal and claim that video as their own. “We’re trying to create a system
that works for everyone. Every single piece of content that’s added to
our system is copyrighted. When you take a video, it’s copyrighted,”
Chad explained. However, it is up to the person or group being in-
fringed upon to make a copyright claim. They can submit this claim to
YouTube, who will review the video and then take it down if it is found
to be violating any rules.
At first, one of the ways YouTube attempted to prevent situations in
which content could be stolen is by limiting how long a video could
Research Project
The users of YouTube have played a very major role in shaping
how YouTube has grown and adapted over the years. Using the
Internet, research the history of some features introduced by You-
Tube. List a few features that were added and explain how they
helped the website become more accessible, then list a few fea-
tures that were removed and explain why they were taken away.