LOS ANGELES -- YouTube announced Wednesday that it has shelled out a total of $2 billion to more than 8,000 rights holders through its ContentID program.
Content ID, launched in 2007, was designed to help rights holders, including music labels, networks, studios and independent creators, identify content comprised partially or entirely of their intellectual property. It also helped them manage or monetize it by claiming any ad revenue the content generated.
About 98 percent of copyright management on the platform takes place through Content ID, YouTube said, with only 2 percent handled through copyright removal notices.
"In many ways, Content ID is an engine that helps make YouTube the platform for creativity that it is today," Harris Cohen, YouTube's senior product manager of Content ID, told Mashable. "It allows creators of all kinds ... to use YouTube as platform where they can cultivate passionate fan bases and earn money from the amazing content they make."
The announcement comes as the Google-owned video giant continues to ramp up efforts to help fight piracy on the platform and answer to backlash from community members over its rights management system.
While Content ID has helped some companies monetize, it has also ended up becoming the root of disputes among YouTubers. Many feel the video platform has a broken copyright system because it legally protects itself while putting users at risk.
YouTube is hoping to alleviate the drama, one initiative at a time.
The industry history
At first, Hollywood was not a big fan of YouTube, with Google and major studios clashing over film piracy.
In 2014, hacked Sony Pictures emails revealed that film studios -- which had nicknamed Google "Goliath" -- actually launched a project to counter the influence of the tech giant.
In 2016, Hollywood and YouTube have now become allies. Studios increasingly look to the digital space, especially digital influencers, to help market their releases. Google Play, which has paid out more than $7 billion to developers, has also become a popular distribution outlet. Even the annual three-day digital video conference VidCon has gone Hollywood.
But another YouTube opponent has emerged: The music industry.
Critics take issue with YouTube's Content ID program and the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA), which basically states YouTube isn't responsible for the copyright violations of its users. Just as long as the company removes infringing content when notified by rights holders.
Major industry voices like Irving Azoff have called out YouTube, arguing that the Content ID system is "meaningless when YouTube continues to hide behind the 'safe harbor' provisions of the DMCA."
Other artists, such as Katy Perry, Billy Joel and Rod Stewart, have also petitioned for change.
In response, YouTube penned a damage-control blog emphasizing that it cares about its artists as creators.
"Half of the music industry's YouTube revenue comes from fan content claimed via Content ID," YouTube said. "Thanks to Content ID, YouTube is also the only platform that gives partners an automated way to directly monetize background/incidental use and covers."
The creator perspective: YouTube is "finally getting better"
Content ID problems have become commonplace in the YouTube community. Many creators have continued to publicly complain to YouTube, and some have even openly argued with each other.
In June, pickup artist Matt Hosseinzadeh (or MattHossZone, aka "The Bold Guy") who has 175,000 subscribers, garnered backlash after claiming Ethan and Hila Klein (aka H3H3 Productions), who have 2 million subscribers across two channels, used too much footage from one of his "Bold Guy" videos in their takedown.
Team Internet labeled Hosseinzadeh the "most hated guy on the Internet."
Earlier this year, Fine Brothers Entertainment also ignited hate after announcing it was going to create a new franchise model for their "REACT" reaction videos. The Internet lost its collective mind, and the Fine Brothers lost 1 million subscribers. As a result, the creative duo apologized and discontinued the program.
Due to these kinds of disputes, YouTube has upped its efforts to help creators combat copyright problems.
In November, YouTube pledged financial and legal resources to help fight unwarranted copyright claims and takedown notices. In April, YouTube also announced it would roll out a new system to help creators earn revenue even as a Content ID claim is being disputed.
The general consensus is that the improvements are helpful, but more can be done. "Finally getting better," wrote one user in a comment on a recent YouTube blog post.
YouTube's latest push
YouTube knows its creators have problems with the Content ID system.
The platform feels the system is more helpful than harmful, however, especially given that many video platform competitors, such as Facebook, have no similar system in place to detect copyright infringement or piracy.
"Content ID is often part of a much broader discussion about the way creative works are distributed and monetized on the web, which can present its challenges."
"Content ID is often part of a much broader discussion about the way creative works are distributed and monetized on the web, which can present its challenges," Cohen said.
"That's why we've invested money, time and engineering resources to develop Content ID as a successful solution to these challenges -- one that gives rights holders scalability and flexibility, while supporting individual creators’ ability to celebrate and interact with content they love."
Part of the new effort includes quicker responses to complaints. With help from Google’s engineers, YouTube's system for processing copyright removal notices handles millions of URLs each day in less than 6 hours on average.
Google also said it is "committed to rooting out and ejecting" rogue sites, which specialize in online piracy and steal movies, TV shows and music, from its advertising services.
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