Page 309 - A Study on the Role of UGC Platforms in Copyright Law：An Intermediary-oriented Approach

Appendix 9 Interview Record (Participant H)

Appendix 9 Interview Record

(Participant H)

Date: 14:00-14:20, September 24, 2017
Venue: UC Berkeley School of Law
Interviewee: Participant H, a legal assitant in YouTube
Interviewer: Huang Weijie

Huang: Nice to meet you! My name is Weijie Huang. I am a Ph.D. student from the Faculty
of Law, University of Hong Kong and I am studying in UC Berkeley as a Fulbright
visiting scholar. My research topic is about UGC and copyright, and UGC platform is
an important part in my thesis. If possible, can I have a few minutes to talk with you to
know about how YouTube take efforts to prevent copyright infringement and facilitate
copyright commercialization?
Participant H: Sure. I would like to share the YouTube experience.

Huang: Statistics show that over 98% of copyright management on YouTube takes place
through the Content ID system, will the Content ID system override the notice and
takedown rule under DMCA?
Participant H: This is a good question. We would better regard Content ID as a supplement
rather than a substitution of the notice and take down rule. The notice and take down
rule under DMCA merely provides take down option, but Content ID system, on the
other hand, allows copyright owners both to delete the infringing content via the “block”
option, and to monetize the infringement via the “monetize” option.

Huang: Can we say that the monetize option provides a liability rule approach to compensate
the copyright owner in an ex-post way, which works better than an exclusive rule
that require ex-ante license when the transaction cost excessively prohibit ex-ante
negotiation?
Participant H: Exactly! That’s an excellent point. As you may know, over 90% of Content ID
disputes was solved by the monetization option.
Huang: That’s incredible!
Participant H: Yes, the percentage is even higher in the music industry, which is 98.5% if
I am not mistaken. In general, the Content ID system has generated $2bn for rights-
holders across industries in last year.

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