YouTube Copyright Filters Suck: The 'Beat Saber' And 'Jimmy Fallon' Edition

from the beat-down dept

At this point, it's plainly obvious that YouTube's ContentID platform for doing automated takedowns of videos that supposedly infringe on copyrights is a full on mess. That mess is multi-pronged. The filters themselves suck at identifying actual infringement, and throw up all kinds of false positives. The filters are also so broadly applied that building any nuance into what is blocked and what isn't is basically impossible. Finally, the whole system is so wide open for abuse that it's laughable.

The latest iteration of this concerns Beat Saber, a virtual reality rhythm game where you essentially wield two lightsabers to match the beats and rhythms that go along with the music. The game has become so wildly popular that it was recently featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. That's where things went sideways.

Brie Larson played Beat Saber on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon which resulted in the video being uploaded to the show’s YouTube channel. Unfortunately, subsequent uploads with similar gameplay are getting copyright strikes because it appears to share similar gameplay footage, possibly from the same levels as played on the show.

Here is one of the tweets that highlighted the issue about the Beat Saber copyright strikes:

In case you can't see that tweet, it's essentially Beat Saber's team responding to one of the many people who had a let's play video taken down due to a takedown notice... from Jimmy Fallon's show. Confused as to why NBC is taking down videos that include only game footage of Beat Saber? Well, Fallon and his guest played those same levels on his show, leading the ContentID filters to think that the let's play videos were playing part of Fallon's show, when it was actually the other way around: Fallon's show included game footage. In other words, ContentID got it exactly backwards.

And, it should be noted, the folks behind Beat Saber absolutely do want you to upload video of game footage to YouTube.

“This was not planned by anyone, that’s just a really messed up youtube algorithm,” stated a subsequent tweet on Beat Saber’s account. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimmy’s team didn’t even know about the fact that this is happening. I will reach out to Jimmy’s team. Maybe they can help, but I am not sure about that. :(”

The Beat Saber team has turned off ContentID detection for the track, but this particular situation is somewhat out of their hands. Fortunately, the developers may have a solution underway for the Beat Saber copyright strikes. A follow-up tweet states that the people behind The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon are working with YouTube to resolve the issue. In the meantime, the developers advise that it may be helpful for uploaders to dispute the claim should they be one of the affected videos.

And, yet, there are hundreds of these takedowns. No, Beat Saber folks aren't being copyright jerks. No, NBC wasn't trying to takedown let's plays of Beat Saber. Instead, everyone is relying on an automated system that fully sucks at getting copyright questions correct. It sucks so bad, in fact, that they get the order of operations here backwards.

If you need another example that automated filters can't do copyright enforcement, you will never be satisfied.

Filed Under: beat saber, censorship, contentid, copyright, jimmy fallon, takedowns, youtube
Companies: youtube

Watch The President Use Fair Use To Support A Trade Deal That Undermines Fair Use

from the three-step-test dept

Lots of people are talking about the fact that President Obama went on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday night to "slow jam the news" and play up a bunch of his accomplishments while stumping for the TPP agreement. If you haven't seen it yet, it's here: Here's the key part on TPP:

"I believe it is of the utmost importance to work alongside other leaders. That's why I signed the Iran nuclear deal, that’s why we reopened diplomatic ties with Cuba, and that is why I negotiated the new trade deal called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP," Obama said, to the backdrop of the Roots.

"Now, hold on there, Prez dispenser. Are you saying you’re down with TPP?" Fallon responded.

"Yeah, you know me. Look, Jimmy, the TPP allows American businesses to sell their products both at home and abroad. The more we sell abroad, the more higher-paying jobs we provide at home. It’s that simple," Obama said.

"So what are you saying, that this trade deal would put Americans back to work, work, work, work, work?" Fallon said, singing Rihanna as Obama joined in.

The President is being misleading, but we'll get to that. The really amusing point, as pointed out by Johnjac is that the little Rihanna homage breakdown there is legal thanks to fair use. But the TPP, contrary to the claims of some, actually looks to limit fair use, by putting in place a test (that US fair use wouldn't currently qualify for) -- and making any fair use optional.

So... that seems like a bit of irony. But it's the kind of thing almost no one is going to comment on, because ha ha, the President is singing and it's funny.

As for the claim that the TPP allows American businesses to sell their products both at home and abroad, that's... not really true. Most American businesses can already sell their products at home (obviously) and abroad. The TPP only removes tariffs and other restrictions in a few limited cases. It's not really going to open up that many markets. And as we've seen with other trade deals (e.g., NAFTA) it's arguable how much it helps to put Americans who are out of work "back to work." But if this were just about trade then he might have a point, but as we've pointed out over and over again, trade is such a small part of the TPP. So much more of it is about "non-tariff barriers" which is basically another way of talking about setting up protectionist laws like stronger copyright and patent requirements.

Filed Under: barack obama, copyright, fair use, jimmy fallon, president obama, slow jam, tpp

Ridiculous Content Restrictions Mean NBC Loses Viral Buzz For Emmy Clips

from the how-to-fail,-ungracefully dept

I'm not a big fan of award shows and can't remember the last time I watched one, so it's no surprise that I missed the Emmy's this past weekend. However, in an age where mocking the hosts of these shows for doing a terrible job is considered common practice, apparently a lot of people were impressed by some of Jimmy Fallon's work hosting the show. Too bad NBC can't let people see why. Staci Kramer, over at PaidContent notes that the opening musical sequence (a play on the TV show Glee with Fallon and various other TV personalities singing a Springsteen song) got a really good response online... but NBC can't post it online due to "restrictions." That is, NBC didn't secure the rights to repost the song online, losing out on any potential benefits from helping make the video go viral.

Of course, it's not clear who's "at fault" here, but either way NBC ends up looking clueless (yet again!). It had to know that there would be value in getting such things online, and while the license holders might not have wanted to license it, NBC should have made the point that if it wasn't put online legally by NBC, surely plenty of others would put it online elsewhere for all to see, without NBC or the rightsholders getting any direct benefit. It's really a tremendous "head-in-the-sand" approach to dealing with these issues. Anyone who says they can license music for the show on TV, but not online, is missing the point, and NBC's inability to explain this to them coherently is a negotiating blunder. And, because of that, others get all the benefit of the viral content, and NBC looks clueless online.

Filed Under: emmy awards, jimmy fallon, licensing, music
Companies: nbc

NBC Unwilling To Pay Music Publishing Fees For Jimmy Fallon Show

from the cheaping-out dept

NBC Universal may be concerned about the poor corn farmers who it claims are losing out due to piracy, but apparently the company isn't that concerned about music publishers. The Licensing Plate points us to the news that NBC Universal refuses to pay any music publishing fees to allow the band The Roots to play anyone else's music for the new Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. That means, the band has to write 200 new songs to play on the show. Obviously, this is NBC Universal's choice, but the whole thing seems a bit questionable, given the number of NBC Universal execs we see moralizing about the importance of paying for content. Also, considering how we've seen collections societies tell others that it doesn't matter if they promise to only play original works, will ASCAP and BMI charge NBC Universal anyway? Or does NBC Universal get special treatment from those collections societies?

Filed Under: jimmy fallon, licensing, music publishing, roots