It is evident that the work of artists must be protected and that no one except them or with their express consent should be able to profit from talent and the work of third parties however, sometimes excessive zeal to enforce copyright can also be an obstacle to the dissemination of content.
Now Facebook wants to make it easier for users to upload their videos without worrying about the included music in them and without constant complaints about copyright infringement requesting the withdrawal of the contents. And for this, he has taken out the checkbook.
Facebook wants you to be able to upload your videos without worrying about the rights of the included music
Those who are regular YouTube users know exactly what we are talking about and the utmost care we must take when uploading any type of content. In 2013 I uploaded a video of a public performance organized by the Seville city council and three years later YouTube blocked this video in Germany on the grounds that the alleged owner of the music rights had complained, and this despite that the audio was part of the show itself, a public show in a public place, the street. This situation is, to say the least, ridiculous, especially since I was not getting any kind of financial benefit from said video however, YouTube chose to surrender to the rights owners (Beware, in many cases, these owners are not the authors, but companies dedicated to the most varied activities, from music investment to real estate, financial, various speculative activities, etc.) to the detriment of the most active users. Does this prevent users from being able to freely publish our content? Obviously not, you just have to look for music free of rights (or pay for the use of such rights), but it is also obviously a brake since the complaints by the owners are produced by the hundreds every day which leads to blockages and withdrawals of contents.
Well, now Facebook has decided to opt for the opposite policy to YouTube and, in order to avoid continuous complaints, the withdrawal and / or blocking of content, and so that users of the social network can upload the videos we want with the music we want, Facebook is offering the music industry "millions of dollars". Of course this is not an expense, but an investment Because, if on Facebook you can use the audio you want in your videos, and not on YouTube, what platform are many users more likely to choose?
The battle has begun
This is how Facebook would be preparing to start the "war" against YouTube and thus become the first destination for music videos and other content containing songs protected by copyright, as a recent report published by the media Bloomberg. According to the report, the company offers music publishers "hundreds of millions of dollars" to keep music contained in uploaded videos by users and page owners on the social network. In this way, at least initially, concerns arising from claims by copyright holders, and the work of those who must tirelessly work to locate and remove such content from Facebook, would be avoided.
However, Facebook also plans create an automatic system to identify videos with content protected by copyright, similar to Google's content identification system. In this way, Facebook would pave the way for the social network to compete with YouTube to become the first video service on the internet and probably also a streaming music service, while keeping copyright holders calm. .
But as we have already indicated before, none of this is accidental. This agreement, if it were to be realized on paper, would be the result of years of negotiations between Facebook and music publishers, and would come just as Facebook rolled out globally Watch, your new video programming offering.
The result of a long road
Mark Zuckerberg's ambitions could be fulfilled if this entire strategy comes to fruition. Let's think that if Facebook can start putting ad money on videos away from YouTube, while protecting the copyrights of protected content, it will be able to attract more users for longer periods of time and compete effectively against YouTube and against any other platform worth its salt then would have made users and authors happy, while the social network increases its benefits.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook
The company already is planning to produce original TV shows in partnership with media companies and news organizations. If you get rights from music publishers for user-generated content, you could also do the same for premium content. Part of that process could involve a deal with Vevo, the rights holder to more than 200.000 music videos of the best artists and labels from around the world, and Vevo's exclusivity agreement with YouTube comes to an end this year, giving Facebook a unique opportunity to negotiate its own agreement with the company, something that, without a doubt, will already be doing.