It seems YouTube continues to make the worst possible choices as to who is protected by their platform, something that seems all too common to those who have been around the platform for an extended time. Whether it be the #PickASideYouTube movement from earlier this year, in which YouTube’s “privacy” policies were being used by Pedophiles against investigative channel(s) attempting to bring light to issues regarding Child Exploitation on online platforms commonly used by children, or YouTube’s infinitely broad and arbitrarily applied “Hate Speech” policy update from 2019, or one of the other myriad controversies the platform is involved in.
The current allegations against the platform are made by the CEO of a channel called Business Casual which produces documentary and commentary on the world of business, both past and present. The channel self describes its mission as being “to educate and inspire the next generation of leaders”.
In 2 lawsuits, Business Casual Holdings, LLC v. Youtube, LLC et al against YouTube and Business Casual Holdings, LLC v. TV-Novosti against RT/Russia Today (a state-controlled and funded “news” organization operated by the Kremlin in order to undermine Russia’s adversaries) it is alleged that RT stole portions of Business Casual’s videos which contained 3D-parallax visuals for the production of a report on one of the 39 channels it operates (in this case, RT Arabic).
In a nearly 2 hour long video posted to YouTube, Rumble and Vimeo, it is detailed how Google and YouTube profit from the theft of copyrighted material, sponsor copyright reform in order to benefit their operations, and ignore the legal precedent within the DMCA regarding the termination of repeat infringers.
It is cases like these that prove that Google and YouTube are without a doubt a monopoly. Hopefully, the result of these lawsuits can change the online landscape in a positive way. Unfortunately, it’s an all-too-common case where size, financial, and market power mean that large companies get a slap on the wrist or no punishment whatsoever.
I would definitely recommend giving the video above a watch while you still can. We all know that in addition to blatant theft that YouTube is also all too happy to censor speech. At least the video will likely remain up on Rumble even if that does happen.