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YouTube Bows to Japanese Pressure over Copyright Infringement

YouTube, the popular video file sharing site owned by Google Inc. has bowed to pressure from a group of Japanese media representatives that demanded that it remove thousands of files over copyright infringement. The Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers, based in Tokyo, requested that YouTube remove 30,000 files from its site because of the need to clarify copyright issues.

YouTube has come under fire from various groups and organizations, some of them copyright holders, who have lodged complaints regarding pirated material. YouTube, which serves approximately 100 million videos a day on its official site, has stated that it cannot track which of the videos are pirated and which are not. This is exactly why many see the idea of YouTube detrimental to the entire media industry. On its website, YouTube states that it is simply a ?consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos worldwide through a web experience?.

The Japanese group representing 23 media companies made up of, among others, movie distributors and television networks, requested ? in a statement - that YouTube remove the TV, music and video clips already posted on their site. They also requested that YouTube take the necessary steps to block postings of unauthorized files to the site. The statement also urged users not to post any video clips that might violate copyright laws.