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It is well known that YouTubers can lose their channels and videos when they are repeatedly accused of posting material that infringes copyright. Interestingly, the senders of questionable removal notices are also at risk. A few days ago, YouTube canceled the channel "Musical Creator" on suspicion of submitting a fraudulent copyright claim.
YouTube's copyright removal policy poses one of the biggest threats to the platform's content creators.
YouTube users who receive three warnings for copyright infringement can easily lose their channels, which for some amounts to their livelihood.
Over the years, we have seen numerous examples of YouTube users whose accounts were terminated after repeated copyright claims, legitimate or not. However, examples of plaintiffs being punished are rare.
Target deletion abuse
The only example that comes to mind is YouTube's lawsuit against a scammer who extorted people through the removal process. The man, who requested payments in exchange for retracting false copyright claims, eventually settled the matter and offered a formal apology.
In recent years there has been an increase in calls to hold senders accountable for such false claims. This even made it onto the political agenda, where it is now considered part of the DMCA review.
However, YouTube does not need a new law to police its own platforms. This week we came across a rare example showing how the video streaming service is actively punishing suspected scammers.
"Musical Creator" loses count
Yesterday, the owner of the channel "Musical Creator" She complained that his channel had been canceled after submitting a takedown request for copyright infringement. The channel operator does not appear to be a native English speaker as the comment below shows, but it is clear that he does not agree with this decision.
"My youtube channel MUSICAL CREATOR has been canceled due to illegal information copyright infringement. But I am not violating any youtube policy, I do not know how my channel is canceled, I filled out all the legal information. I want to get my channel back ”, writes the operator.
The YouTuber explains that they reported someone else for copying their video and that their own channel was canceled as a result. According to a YouTube follow-up message, the initial removal notice is considered potentially fraudulent.
"We are concerned that some of the information included in this legal request may be fraudulent," the YouTube response reads. "Please understand that YouTube receives a lot of fraudulent takedown requests for copyright infringement and we take abuse of that process very seriously."
YouTube's support team references the aforementioned lawsuit filed against the extortion scammer. At the same time, however, it also provides the affected user with an opportunity to prove that their copyright claim is correct.
One-time termination for copyright abuse?
"Musical Creator" says they sent their passport to YouTube but, at the time of writing, the channel stay disconnected. Visitors are informed that the account was terminated for a violation of YouTube's Terms of Service.
This is the first time we have seen an example of this harsh punishment in nature. This could be partly because "rights holders" are less likely to complain in public.
Unfortunately, the support thread does not include further details and we were unable to contact the affected user directly. This means that there is little we can say about the validity of YouTube's action.
That said, these types of fraud allegations and account cancellations are unlikely to occur without a manual review of some kind.