YouTube’s system for dealing with copyright claims is famed for giving users huge headaches. But things are about to change, big time.
YouTube uses something known as “Content ID,” a framework that grants uploads a unique digital fingerprint. If a YouTube channel uploads a video, and the automated system flags it with a digital fingerprint that is already in use, then the newly uploaded video will likely gain something known as a Content ID claim. From there, the owners of the original Content ID can choose to monetize the new video for themselves, if not outright block the video.
It’s a good idea in theory, except that users have figured out how to game the system to claim videos that they have no business in owning. Worse, while Content ID disputes are up in the air, the original video uploader can’t make any money off their video. For people who make a living off of YouTube, that’s a huge problem. Time and time again, YouTubers have had to watch a video blow up, only to get caught up in a faulty Content ID claim that strips them of any earnings. It sucks.
Thankfully, however,YouTube has announced that it will soon change the way Content ID claims work:
From now on, if a video is caught up in a Content ID claim, it will continue to earn revenue during the dispute period. Once things are resolved, YouTube will simply give the money to whoever ends up owning the video. Here’s YouTube, breaking down how it will work:
When both a creator and someone making a claim choose to monetize a video, we will continue to run ads on that video and hold the resulting revenue separately. Once the Content ID claim or dispute is resolved, we’ll pay out that revenue to the appropriate party.
Even with this change, the Content ID system will still retain some issues. But in my experience, YouTubers often considered the older monetization aspect as one of the worst parts of the experience, so it’s great that YouTube is finally listening to the community here. This change will likely make a lot of people very happy.
Unfortunately, there’s no specific date for the new system, but YouTube notes that it’ll drop sometime within the “coming months.” You can read more about it here.
