Saturday, June 26, 2021

More ways videos disappear online: Content moderation, business deals


For over a decade I’ve chronicled the many ways that the internet has failed to live up to its early promise of comprehensive libraries of digital content accessible to anyone.
Most recently I wrote about how videos often disappear after just short periods online. Videos get removed because of changes in licensing, copyright disputes and websites going belly up. But there are many other reasons.
YouTube recently took down a journalism video by libertarian news website Reason claiming it promoted “medical misinformation.” Reason said its coverage of biohackers trying to produce do-it-yourself vaccines was solid reporting on an important subject. (See article “Why Did YouTube Remove This Reason Video?”)
Techdirt wrote about a case of YouTube relocating music videos by an artist it accused artificially inflating views by hiring a marketing service. The artist, Darnaa, said YouTube’s decision to change the URLs for her videos made her music more difficult to promote and find. (See article “Content Moderation Case Study: YouTube Relocates Video Accused Of Inflated Views.”
Then, there’s the constant shuffling of licensed content between streaming video services. Reelgood recently showed how hit movies “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” traveled among four subscription video services within a year. Reelgood is one of the best services for keeping track of which content is located where online. (See articles “The Real Batman Villain: Hollywood’s Streaming-Service Deals” and “How a tiny startup fixed the future of TV.”)
But what happens to original shows created for specific services that no longer exist? Decider tackled that thorny issue with an article titled “When the Streaming Platform Dies, What Happens to Its Shows?” Some shows find new streaming homes while others get locked away in studio vaults.

Photo: Reelgood graphic.

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