YouTube copyright policing practices are erratic and unpredictable. Many people upload videos that may contain short clips of content for commentary and artistic expression. These are often well within the guidelines for fair use.
It’s frustrating to have YouTube take down videos they deem to be a violation of copyright without any further analysis regarding fair use.Sometimes a copyright holder will complain about violations of copyright. However, many of these take downs are based on automated analysis of uploaded videos. The audio, music, and videos are analyzed and compared with a known database of copyrighted content. If copyrighted content is identified, then videos are taken down.
What seems contradictory and unfair is that some people are allowed to upload full length feature films and entire seasons of television shows without having them taken down. Below is just one example of this. The full-length feature film “Christmas with the Kranks” was uploaded by a user (Marcy Spark Jess) and approximately four years later the movie is still online.
