Google: Fire YouTube’s Lawyers
17th Nov 2006, 07:52 GMT
Google’s been known for their legal mishaps, sending out the same random brain-dead notices from their lawyers that every major corporation is guilty of. However, Google does seem to have instilled in their lawyers some discretion, as the number and stupidity of legal notices seems lower than at some other companies. Now that Google has completed its purchase of YouTube, my first advice to them would be to fire YouTube’s legal team. YouTube’s moves to keep the system copyright-violation-free (as ineffective and inadequate as they were) have been very unpopular among many of its most prolific users. YouTube has removed infringing material with a sledgehammer, deleting accounts wholesale after a few infringing videos. While uploaders of full episodes of South Park deserve what they get, YouTube’s power users, who upload large amounts of original and copyright-free video and truly give the service a chance at being some sort of legitimate archive, they both hate and fear the YouTube police. Remember an incident where the account of the Opie and Anthony show, one of the most popular radio programs in the country, had its account deleted over a TV interview of the radio duo, despite having uploaded hundreds of original recordings. Google’s legal moves might be smarter than YouTube’s. At the least, those worried about investing their time in YouTube might worry a little less if a fresh guard took over. Either way, even if YouTube is to operate semi-independently, there’s no reason to have two seperate groups handling DMCA notices and other abuses. Centralize with the lawyers at Google, and there’s a lot of benefit to be had. Maybe then TechCrunch won’t receive legal notices that actually contradict YouTube’s terms of service. Say what you will, but Google doesn’t hire these kind of dummies. See lots of coverage at TechMeme.