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Lowering Barriers to Entry: YouTube, Fair Use, and the Copyright Claims Board
Jamie O’Neill
Note

  The full text of this Note may be found here.

33 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 176 (2022).

Note by Jamie O’Neill*

 

ABSTRACT

 

[T]

he Internet has transformed the landscape of media production by opening the doors of creation to anyone with a computer and an idea. YouTube allows for millions of individuals to post and dissem- inate content at a low cost to widespread audiences. But while the barriers to entry for content creation have lowered, the barriers to the legal copyright system have remained largely unmoved since YouTube’s inception. This Note seeks to explore the exact specifica- tions of YouTube’s copyright system, both the one mandated by law and the one created voluntarily by YouTube, in order to understand where fair use stands in online copyright infringement detection. Additionally, the Note proposes the newly functional Copyright Claims Board as a way of lowering the barrier to entry into the legal system to allow for content creators to fight against online copyright abuse.

 

* J.D. Candidate, Class of 2023, Fordham University School of Law, Online Editor, Volume XXXIII, Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal; B.S., Political Science, the Ohio State University, 2020. I wish to thank the staff of the Journal, Cardozo and Brandeis, and all of the YouTubers whose passion inspired the creation of this paper. Finally, my thanks to Carolyn O’Neill who has always been my biggest supporter.