Facebook’s aggressive efforts to gain dominance in video is beginning to pay off. However, video creators claim the social media giant is not doing enough to stop copyright infringement.
The company said in April it received more than 4 billion video views each day. The platform now offers an opportunity for video makers to sell and promote to a massive audience, according to the Verge. If you make videos or want to sell advertising against them, this is great news: a giant platform with unparalleled reach is finally paying attention to you.
Popular YouTube celebrity Hank Green leveled a number of allegations at Facebook’s video team, claiming widespread copyright infringement. Facebook users are uploading videos from YouTube without video creators’ consent. According to Green, Facebook said it enforces copyright by allowing users to report stolen content and suspending repeat offenders.
Video producers fear Facebook will not take down videos because it wants to chip away at YouTube’s number one position in the market. Copyright issues could hurt Facebook because advertisers do not want involvement in controversy and possible litigation.
Google-owned YouTube had been supreme in video with more 300 hours of video being uploaded, which generated billions of daily views. There’s a new generation of video stars that attract billions in advertising dollars.
In YouTube’s early days, copyright violations were frequent. Then, Google instituted a Content ID system that checks every video that is uploaded for duplicates or other clues of copyright infringement. According to the Verge, Facebook has a similar system in the works.
