YouTube Takes Heat From Japan's Entertainment IndustryYouTube Takes Heat From Japan's Entertainment Industry

YouTube has received a letter from Japan's entertainment industry, warning the video-sharing Web site that it's failing to adequately protect against copyright infringement.

In the letter sent Monday, the Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers, and Publishers said YouTube's notice-and-takedown procedure in which the site removes content at the request of copyright holders was insufficient. The society also said the process involves too much time on the part of content owners.

"As a large number of audio-visual works are illegally uploaded despite our notices, we are seriously concerned about the current situation where the notice and takedown scheme, aimed to prevent copyright infringements, is not functioning well due to the large volume of illegal uploads," the organization said.

In September, YouTube pulled nearly 30,000 videos at the request of the Japanese entertainment industry. In addition, the group asked YouTube to deploy filters and take other steps to ensure that unauthorized content doesn't appear on the site in the future.

The society made the same plea on Monday, and listed other measures YouTube could take, including a warning in Japanese on the home page that reminds people of the civil and criminal penalties associated with copyright infringement. In addition, the group wants YouTube to maintain records of the names and addresses of people uploading video, and to terminate the accounts of users who upload illegal clips.

The industry group gave YouTube until Dec. 15 to respond. Google acquired YouTube this year for $1.65 billion. The search engine last month said it had set aside $200 million to cover any losses or damages stemming from the acquisition. Although Google didn't give an exact reason, analysts believe the money is to cover potential copyright-infringement suits.