Thought on YouTube

YouTube is very convenient. I can watch many kinds of Japanese drama while staying the U.S. and listen to many music. I almost can’t live without YouTube. However, it is clear that this dreamy environment is supported by a vast amount of copyright infringement, and copyright owners are incurred damages on. In this view, stronger restriction should be applied to YouTube. However, the extent of restriction should be dependent on the nature of copyrighted works. For example, once music video is uploaded to YouTube, it is easy to expect that the sales of CD containing the music will be reduced. Furthermore, it is easy to access the music even when the music is not uploaded to YouTube. Restriction for uploading such copyrighted works as music should be strong. On the other hand, even when news programs are uploaded to YouTube, broadcaster virtually receives no damages, because they generally do not expect to get further profit from already-broadcast news programs. Furthermore, if the news programs are not uploaded to YouTube, it is difficult for the general public to access the news programs. Restriction for uploading such copyrighted works as news programs should be weak, and such copyrighted works should be promoted to be readily accessible for anyone.