Facebook is reportedly working on a content identification system that will allow it to quickly flag videos that contain unlicensed music. This comes due to mounting pressure from the music industry, which wants a chunk of the advertising money that Facebook receives.
Once the Content ID system in in place, Facebook will begin working with the music industry to achieve a licensing deal to allow music on the platform. No details about how this will work, and talks are currently said to be in the early stages.
According to a National Music Publisher op-ed, Facebook is home to millions of views worth of unlicensed content. A search of the top 33 songs on the charts at the time resulted in 900 different videos with a total of 600 million collective views. Naturally, the music industry wants to be paid for these views.
Facebook isn’t the only online platform to come under pressure from the music industry. Youtube has seen multiple issues from publishers; although it says that it has paid out $1 billion in royalties and revenues this year alone. Despite this, music companies are disputing the number.
The reports seem to indicate that Facebook is preparing to clamp down hard on copyright infringement, but the use of automated tools could result in problems. Youtube’s system often comes under fire for being too heavy handed on creators, with copyright trolls abusing the system for their own benefit.
It may not be the same problem for Facebook, as the social media platform doesn’t pay anything out to people who upload videos. Which should, in theory, make it easier for it to work out how to deal with licensing issues.
[Source: Engadget]
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