YouTube Responds To Copyright Complaints

Following a “third-party notification by Comedy Central,” YouTube has begun deleting film clips from its service that include copyrighted material from the network. Although a number of shows and personalities from Comedy Central have received considerable exposure on YouTube, which was recently purchased by Google for $1.65 billion, the network is reportedly seeking to protect material from shows including “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “The Colbert Report,” and “South Park.”

The action came a week after YouTube agreed to remove nearly 30,000 video clips that included music, television, and movie content after a similar complaint was brought by the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers, and Publishers.

New York Times, 30 October 2006 (registration req’d)