Youtube Finally Acts Against ‘Robber Barons’ of Indian News Media

YouTube Cracks Down on Leading Hindi News Channels Over Multiple Copyright Strikes

In a stunning development, YouTube has disabled video uploads and issued copyright strikes against prominent Hindi news channels – News Nation, Zee News and TV9 Bharatvarsh – following multiple complaints of copyright violations. The restrictions come after Emmy award-winning photojournalist Brandon Clement accused them of brazenly stealing his content.

According to sources, YouTube blocked News Nation’s upload feature on December 15 after the channel failed to remove infringing content. Zee News and TV9Bharatvarsh faced similar action on December 19 following damning posts by Clement on social media highlighting their rampant piracy.

The American photojournalist, who operates the licensing firm WxChase, claimed News Nation deleted over 27,000 videos in 3 days to avoid a ban. He accused them of removing watermarks to pass off content as exclusive. In one shocking case, the channel overlaid ads on a 2020 tornado video shot by storm-chaser PecosHank while claiming it as recent footage.

Clement’s subsequent posts exposed over 1000 videos rapidly removed by NewsNation, TV9, India TV and Times Now Navbharat after receiving DMCA takedown notices from him. He specifically called out India TV for deleting 9 year old videos only after his complaint.

The copyright strikes indicate YouTube is finally cracking down on brazen piracy by Indian news outlets. The affected channels will likely have to purge all infringing content before getting back video access. YouTube had drawn Clement’s ire earlier for not acting despite adequate evidence.

The development serves as a warning to news channels frequently stealing content without permission. Legal experts have noted that copyright laws clearly prohibit unauthorized usage for commercial gain.

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