Japanese Media Organization Thinks Life In The 21st Century StinksJapanese Media Organization Thinks Life In The 21st Century Stinks

JASRAC, a Japanese media organization, decided the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act is "too much trouble" and wants YouTube to cooperate in preemptively filtering pirated videos from being uploaded: "While such a system is being implemented, JASRAC wants YouTube to take three provisional measures: 1) post a Japanese-language notice on the "top page of the YouTube website" warning about copyright infringement, 2) keep track of the names and addresses of users making uploads, 3) terminate the accounts of anyone who uploads material that JASRAC claims is under copyright."

In other words, JASRAC thinks the 21st Century is a mighty inconvenient place to live, and wants YouTube to turn back the clock to 1974, and also assume that every one of its users is a criminal. Outrageous demands like JASRAC's make use realize that, bad as the DMCA is, it could be a lot worse.

Ars Technica is the source of this article, and the authors of that piece make a very common error: They refer in the first paragraph to "copyrighted" videos. In fact videos on YouTube are copyrighted. Copyright isn't enjoyed only by people lucky enough to sell their work to corporations who have enough money to hire lawyers, it adheres to all creative work: This blog post, your unpublished novel, and your Christmas letter.