Image Credit: Robyn Beck / Getty Images
You’ve likely seen various popular Facebook pages uploading videos to the site ripped straight from YouTube/Vine, failing to attribute a source to these videos and instead passing them off as if they have produced them. This has been a big problem with the social networking site ever since it started placing an emphasis upon video content, and now popular YouTube channel h3h3productions has pulled back the curtain, revealing just how little Facebook is attempting to prevent this from happening.
Ethan Klein detailed how one of the videos he created for h3h3productions had been uploaded in its entirety to the Facebook page DJBooth.net, attracting 1.5 million views – over three times as many views as the original video has achieved. However, after filling out the forms in order to notify Facebook of the issue, Facebook replied: “We don’t see how the content you’ve reported, used in this context, violates your rights and we are not in a position to take action.”
After Ethan contacted them again disputing their previous statement, Facebook replied: “For the reason we previously described, we are not in a position to act on your report. If you have not already done so, you may wish to reach out to the party responsible for posting the content to resolve your issue with them directly.”
As Ethan points out, contacting DJBooth.net and politely asking them to remove the video without Facebook’s backing would likely not result in any action being taken. Their statement that it is not in their power to take down the video is also directly at odds with their own policies, with the social networking site having previously made the following statement in regards to protecting the rights of content creators:
“…we’ve heard from some of our content partners that third parties too frequently misuse their content on Facebook. For instance, publishers have told us that their videos are sometimes uploaded directly to Facebook without their permission. This practice has been called “freebooting,” and it’s not fair to those who work hard to create amazing videos. We want creators to get credit for the videos that they own. To address this, we have been exploring ways to enhance our rights management tools to better empower creators to control how their videos are shared on Facebook.
We have an established foundation in place today. Videos uploaded to Facebook are run through the Audible Magic system, which uses audio fingerprinting technology to help identify and prevent unauthorized videos from making their way onto the platform. We have reporting tools that enable content owners to tell us when someone has uploaded their video without permission, and we promptly remove those videos in response to valid reports. And our IP policies ensure that people that repeatedly post content without permission are held responsible for their actions.”
Now Ethan’s only real plan of action would be to file a DMCA claim, effectively taking his problem to the government, though this isn’t an ideal solution given that it should be Facebook’s responsibility to remove it.
Check out Ethan’s video on the matter below:
