Automated Copyright Infringement Detection

[TromboneAl]

Today I uploaded a 1-minute video to YouTube. It was something I'd made for my sister, and it included a recording of "Not for all the Rice in China" sung by Wesla Whitfield.

YouTube was able to detect that it was a licensed song or recording, and blocked viewing of the video in the U.S. They have a database of "audio fingerprints" which they run through to detect copyright infringement.

Technically, they were right, and I'm not complaining. It just blows my mind that they are able to accomplish this. Kind of an automated Big Brother.

 

[donheff]

Interesting. You can find almost anything under the sun posted there from Concerts and the like so there must be some way for posters to get authorization.

 

[Sarah in SC]

They did that to one of mine. If you redo it, they are likely to let it pass. I posted our hoopdance recital videos and that's what happened.

 

[ERD50]

Interesting. I was fascinated by the iPhone app - '"Shizam", which can identify a song by just hearing a short clip of it. The intent was, you hear it, identify it so you can buy it. So now they are applying this for copyright enforcement - pretty clever.

It has to identify the original recording against the same recording. It can't recognize a band playing a cover of a song as the original. It would have a different 'fingerprint'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shazam_(service)

-ERD50

 

[Surfdaddy]

It is amazing what the automated system will do.

The problem is that fair use allows up to 30 second snippets, and the automated system flags stuff that really is legal. Good luck finding a human to actually sympathize with your or change it.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Oh, and I use Audacity tool to cut and mix songs for our performances and it is more difficult for the software to recognize the digital signature because it is essentially a new recording.

I love that Shazam--I have it on my Blackberry.

 

[ziggy29]

YouTube was able to detect that it was a licensed song or recording, and blocked viewing of the video in the U.S. They have a database of "audio fingerprints" which they run through to detect copyright infringement.

Sort of like what might have happened if "Ghostbusters" was run through it today and discovered it sounded suspiciously like a previous Huey Lewis tune...

 

[igsoy]

I wonder how it identifies the song, like if you slowed it down or sped it up 2 clicks would it still recognize it?

I like to take tunes that have some good energy and speed them up for my exercise mix, wonder if it would recognize it as the same song?

 

[ERD50]

I wonder how it identifies the song, like if you slowed it down or sped it up 2 clicks would it still recognize it?

I like to take tunes that have some good energy and speed them up for my exercise mix, wonder if it would recognize it as the same song?

I got curious, googling came up with this article. He does a really good job of digging into the tech in a readable way. Some pretty funny comments, too.

Fun with YouTube's Audio Content ID System

Drop to the end for a summary.


-ERD50

 

[Nords]

Technically, they were right, and I'm not complaining. It just blows my mind that they are able to accomplish this. Kind of an automated Big Brother.

I love that Shazam--I have it on my Blackberry.

When our kid started high school, an occasional teacher used to play "Stop the Music" for extra credit with '60s or '70s songs. We enjoyed hearing the occasional teen gripe "What's the deal about this 'Stairway to Heaven' stuff anyway?!?"

Two years later the "Stop the Music" had stopped. Too many students were subtly turning on their Shazam-equipped smartphones and nailing the answers within 20 seconds...

 

[TromboneAl]

I wonder how it identifies the song, like if you slowed it down or sped it up 2 clicks would it still recognize it?

I like to take tunes that have some good energy and speed them up for my exercise mix, wonder if it would recognize it as the same song?

I've read that if you change the tempo or pitch by > 5% it no longer detects it.

 

[ERD50]

I've read that if you change the tempo or pitch by > 5% it no longer detects it.

Yes, that was in the summary in the link I posted earlier. Although, I feel that violates the 'spirit' of the copyright laws, so use your own judgement on that.

-ERD50

Fun with YouTube's Audio Content ID System

Drop to the end for a summary.


-ERD50