Automated Content Protection by Platforms - How far off Current Copyright Norms?

For quite a while now, platforms such as YouTube or Instagram voluntarily employ the type of content protection tools which those who are concerned about online filtering and monitoring worry might become the legal norm - for example via the EU’s Digital Single Market Directive. A key element of content protection tools such as YouTube’s 'Content ID’ is its complex, code-like structure that mimics aspects of copyright law as we know it, and enforces this automatically through algorithms detecting matches with content claimed by right holders . Private codes like Content ID also differ significantly from key aspects of copyright protection as we know it. My talk presents ongoing research into content protection tools of major platforms as a form of global norm-setting outside the traditional paradigms of public and private international law. It considers overlaps and key differences of content protection vis-a-vis copyright law, and the impact of automated enforcement on the users of the platform.

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Each year the OIPRC hosts a number of leading academics from around the world as part of its Invited Speaker Series. These events typically run from 5:15-6:45pm on Thursday evenings at St. Peter’s College; if the venue or time is different, it will be noted on the Events calendar.  The Speaker Series consists of a presentation of about 45 minutes, followed by a Q&A session with the assembled group of academic staff, students (both undergraduate and graduate), researchers, and interested members of the public.  Discussion is informal and includes participants from several disciplines, with a wide range of prior knowledge.

Convenors: Dev Gangjee and Robert Pitkethly