YouTube is coming to the assistance of some video creators, offering up to $1 million in legal costs if subject to false DMCA takedowns.

YouTube has taken many steps over the years to appease copyright holders, to the point where its reporting system can be abused. Now, YouTube is stepping in on behalf of content creators by offering financial support of up to $1 million in legal costs.

Don’t expect YouTube to be in everyone’s corner though; the site is starting small and offering support to just a handful of video creators initially.

Copyright legal director at Google, Fred von Lohmann, wrote a blog post to explain the situation. “We are offering legal support to a handful of videos that we believe represent clear fair uses which have been subject to DMCA takedowns,” he wrote.

“With approval of the video creators, we’ll keep the videos live on YouTube in the U.S., feature them in the YouTube Copyright Center as strong examples of fair use, and cover the cost of any copyright lawsuits brought against them.”

Although YouTube is only covering a couple of videos, von Lohmann says that this “will make a positive impact on the entire YouTube ecosystem.”

Online Editors