Scaremongering or real fear? YouTube threatens to shut down small channels. Why?
Our cooperation partner checked4you explains what the EU's new copyright law is all about.
The essentials in brief:
- Instead of individual users, YouTube itself should be held responsible for copyright violations in videos.
- To be on the safe side, YouTube could automatically ban many videos in the future.
- The EU directive is not yet valid. And at the moment, no one really knows what YouTube will do when it comes into effect.
“The proposal could force platforms like YouTube to only allow a small amount of content from large companies. It would simply be too risky to present content from small video makers, as the platforms would now be directly responsible for this content.”
Drastic words from YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki. The head of the video platform criticizes the EU's plans to use a new copyright law to make platforms such as YouTube liable in the future if users violate copyright law.
Specifically, this means: If you upload a video that contains, for example, a song that you are not allowed to publish without the permission of the original artist, the artist can demand money from YouTube. This is what the European Union's new copyright law provides in its current draft.
So far, YouTube cannot simply be held responsible if its users mess up when it comes to copyright. what copyright law allows and what it doesn't here .
Small channels bring YouTube advertising revenue
The directive on the new EU copyright law states in Article 13 that large platforms (such as YouTube, but also Instagram, Facebook or Google) must ensure that uploaded content does not infringe the copyright of others. Because that's not easy, YouTube boss Wojcicki is now threatening to shut down small YouTube channels.
However, you should keep in mind that YouTube actually can't do without the small channels. Because they generate a lot of advertising revenue that would be lost to the platform.
Nothing has been decided yet and even in the EU bodies (EU Parliament and EU Council) there is no agreement on what the new directive should look like. And then the articles must also be implemented into national law, i.e. for every EU member state such as Germany.
Discussion about upload filters
The panic that is now being stirred up on YouTube has a dramatic effect. But the EU doesn't want to ban YouTube! The idea behind the directive is that people should be paid for their creative work and should make it easier to get paid. However, the means used to ensure this could result in much legal content disappearing – or not being published at all.
This is the case, for example, when platforms check whether content violates copyright before publishing content. Keyword: upload filter. We would also find such a preliminary check quite bad. Because an automatic system cannot recognize when something is a quote or satire and can then be used, even if someone else owns the copyright to it.
The new directive is still being developed. You can get involved politically and, for example, vote against EU plans with petitions.
And if YouTube actually decides to turn its back on Europe, there are other video platforms too.
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

