“Don’t Be Evil” is Google’s famous company motto. More than a motto, it’s supposed to be a company ethos that guides everything they do. That’s why I find it a bit odd that Google-owned YouTube is so carefree when it comes to respecting copyright.
As anybody knows, YouTube is teeming with music videos, movies and TV programmes which have been uploaded without the permission of the copyright owner. While this makes for splendid entertainment for us, shouldn’t it be up to the copyright owners whether their material is given away for free on someone else’s Web site?
Beyond offering some advice to users about copyright, the default setting for YouTube is: “We’re going to show anything unless the copyright owner complains. It’s up to them to monitor our site and tell us if anything is in breach. And then, if they fill in a DMCA complaint, we’ll remove the content.”
Which is not so much “Don’t Be Evil” as “Be Evil As Long As You Don’t Get Caught”.
Comments on this entry are closed.