Robert Andrea
YouTube is arguably the world’s foremost platform for user-generated content. When users upload material to YouTube, there is a possibility that the uploaded content is protected by copyright. Under traditional copyright law, YouTube is technically liable for allowing copyrighted material to be disseminated. But the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) insulates YouTube and other internet service providers from liability if the companies take certain steps to filter out copyrighted material. For YouTube, the only feasible way to fulfill its copyright protection obligations is to utilize automated copyright protection software. Nevertheless, YouTube’s software, Content ID, and the copyright policies associated with it, pose a challenge to its users’ rights to create content in fair use. This Essay argues that, to mitigate this challenge, Congress should amend the DMCA to require platforms such as YouTube to protect fair use as much as they protect copyrighted material.