http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2010/04/content-id-and-fair-use.html#commentsEarlier today, Youtube announced a change in their content ID system to better handle the issue of fair use.
My initial reaction to this was pretty much positive: No more having to deal with suspended accounts and videos being taken down. Instead, they'd be disabled(which means no copyright strikes against you) and you could easily appeal. This is a system that they have been using for audio material for quite a while now.
However, in that time, I've had conversations with two other Youtubers on the matter. The first said that getting the strike and then having it repealed was a better alternative because it allowed a loophole for the user. I'm not going to get into what that loophole is, simply because. He made a good point either way, that this merely convoluted the DMCA counter claims process.
My second Youtuber friend had a fairly negative reaction to this news though. She makes the claim that this is just a band-aid to keep users on Youtube from leaving for a less stringent competitor site(like Revver, which is very nice about Fair Use), but that it gives the companies too much control and monetization options, and allows them to easily bypass the DMCA to mess with people's videos(like taking them down unfairly, or putting ads on them).
To me, this is all a step in the right direction. The "perfect" scenario for the fan would be that Youtube gets rid of the identification algorithms(henceforth referred to as "bots") and makes all copyright claims on videos manual. The problem with this would be that the production companies of movies, anime, video games would have to hire an army of people to continually check Youtube for illegal uses of their property. Youtube is not a small site; there are millions of videos uploaded every day, and the amount of hours and resources that would need to be put into such a thing would bankrupt one of these companies(plus, it's simply unfair to them). The Viacom lawsuits were what made this system necessary in the first place.
There still needs to be some policy reform to better protect user rights. If something is fair used, it shouldn't be treated like it's only permitted because of the benevolence of a company and their ads. It's nice that things are being allowed to stay up, but they need to be allowed for the right reasons.
But they're starting to change though, and hopefully this is a sign of things to come.
BTW, I'll leave on this note: I don't think you guys should have any problems with the Crimson Echoes playthrough videos on Youtube. The way that the bots work is by "scanning" a video to see if any infringing content is used. Even if Square-Enix put every bit of Chrono Trigger onto video format and put it into these bots, they wouldn't be able to catch you guys because you made a completely new fan work. The only way you would have a copyright problem is if Squeenix manually saw your videos and said "NO FANGAEMS EVAR!" and removed the videos. In which case, a boycott/lawsuit would be not only necessary, but almost required. At that point, Square-Enix would be trampling over your fair use rights, and that can't be allowed to happen.
