Japanese Rights Holders Upset with YouTube

A Japanese entertainment group is not happy with YouTube's progress in weeding out copyrighted content, and is asking the social video site to implement stricter policies on video uploads.

The Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (Jasrac) expressed its concerns in a letter addressed to YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. In it, the group said that problems with the posting of copyrighted content persist, and the current system "is not functioning well."

About 30,000 videos were deleted in October by YouTube at the request of the group. However, since then videos with content that the Jasrac's members own the copyrights to have reappeared. This has led the group to request changes be made to the system.

Jasrac would like to see YouTube implement a screening system to catch copyrighted content before it appears on the site. In addition, it wanted offending members removed and a notice posted in Japanese regarding illegal downloads. A response has been requested by December 15.

While some of the requests would likely be honored without a problem, it is unlikely that YouTube could implement a system where a group of editors approve each video before it is posted to the site.

According to the YouTube, it sees nearly 65,000 clips uploaded each day, and to sift through each one could prove to be a daunting task.

Instead, it has chosen a more technology-based solution to sniff out possible cases of copyright infringement. For example, an audio-signature program analyzes clips to see if they are copies of copyright material.

Also, in an effort to appease copyright holders, YouTube has reached licensing deals with CBS, and three labels, including Warner, Universal, and Sony BMG.