YouTube to clamp down on user-made videos with copyright protected music?

This article claims that YouTube is going to start removing uploaded user-made content that uses copy-protected content. This is going to be a massive undertaking and could have major repercussions for YouTube. Whether or not 'copyright protected music' will apply only to mainstream audio or whether this will kill the fake trailer market is unknown. But so far, the crackdown has been pretty pervasive and thorough. So far the trailer market is seemingly safe while the fanmade music video industry has been nearly wiped out overnight.

There may be one positive side effect from all of this. This apparently means that, should I wish to find a Sarah McLachlan song to rock my daughter to sleep or simply soothe her for a moment, I can actually find just the song, the official music video, or a live concert clip. When I type in 'Full Of Grace', I won't have to watch some terrible fan-made video showcasing the deep, passionate yearning that (pick two of four) Kate, Juliette, Sawyer, and Jack feel for each other. Nor will I have to watch a gloriously romantic montage detailing Buffy's agonizing decision on whether to sleep with Angel or Spike. And, if I can look up Evanescence's 'My Immortal' without being subjected to a painfully pathetic homemade video detailing the epic 'Withering Heights-worthy' love affair between Dr. Grey and McDreamy, then I'm all for crushing the rights of burgeoning artists. Well, not really, but you get the idea.

Amazingly, I never had this problem when Ally wants to dance to 'The Safety Dance' or 'Crocodile Rock'.

Scott Mendelson

My favorite trailer mash ups of late (animated mash-ups are the best, as you can actually get the lips to match):

'The Incredible Quantum of Solace':
Not only is the matching work impeccable, this also gives us the kind of pure action trailer that the actual Incredibles campaign denied us.

The Dark Knight trailer 01 (done in Batman: TAS style)
Of the many, many Dark Knight trailers done up in one version of Batman (the Tim Burton film, the 1960s show, etc), this is by far the most polished.