There has been a rise in instances of takedown of content owned by independent news media companies, citizen journalists, current affairs bloggers and satirists on the grounds of copyright violations by YouTube. These takedowns are usually a result of copyright complaints received from big media houses. This is a misuse of intellectual property law by weaponising copyrights to stifle political dissent and fair critique. We write to Google India highlighting that action taken upon such complaints is based on an incorrect application of copyright law and YouTube’s policies and, therefore, threatens press freedom and is in violation of the constitutional rights of digital media reporters and its audience.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://internetfreedom.in/iff-writes-to-google-india-about-recent-instances-of-youtube-copyright-strikes/