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Credit: Screenshot via Quinton Reviews on YouTube More than eight hundred thousand people subscribe to YouTuber Quinton Reviews for his hours-long videos on Nickelodeon shows iCarly, Sam & Cat, Victorious, and an extensive knowledge of Garfield lore. But this week, the content creator amassed thousands of likes on X (formerly known as Twitter) after calling out YouTube and The Walt Disney Company for prohibiting him from using clips from Steamboat Willie (1928). The Mickey Mouse short entered the public domain on January 1.
It would be impossible for a media conglomerate like The Walt Disney Company to catch every illegal use of its intellectual property online. To account for this, YouTube and other content platforms have automatic copyright strike systems.
When a creator uploads a video or livestream, it’s scanned by “Content ID” for any material in the site’s copyrighted content library. Before it reaches the public eye, YouTube can remove copyrighted content and prohibit its use. (Copyright owners can still manually request video takedowns and ad revenue sharing post-upload.)
But as the oldest Disney characters and shorts finally enter the public domain, Content ID hasn’t caught up. According to Quinton Kyle Hoover (Quinton Reviews), The Walt Disney Company and YouTube are still automatically filing claims against creators who use Steamboat Willie.
Very frustrating issue on YouTube – despite Steamboat Willie being public domain, Disney is still making copyright claims for the short. Technically the first copy I used was a modern restoration, so I did a test with the copy on Wikipedia to the same effect. @YouTube fix this?
The instant a film becomes public domain, it should be removed from the YouTube copyright library. I should not have to “appeal” to prove something is public domain – it should be against terms of service to send takedowns over public domain material.
The instant a film becomes public domain, it should be removed from the YouTube copyright library. I should not have to "appeal" to prove something is public domain – it should be against terms of service to send takedowns over public domain material. pic.twitter.com/vhzJ7hoBCF
— Quinton Reviews🎬 (@Q_Review) January 1, 2024
Hoover tested three different uploads of the short, and all three were struck. In a conversation with Inside the Magic, he explained that only two were claimed for use of Steamboat Willie. One claim was automatically filed by Disney’s music division for the short’s soundtrack, which the company has released on physical media like CDs.
A YouTube representative told Hoover he needed to use the platform’s appeal system to correct the error, which takes a week to process. He felt creators shouldn’t have to wait that long for a decision already made by United States copyright law.
“The only option I was given was to appeal it as public domain, which was then sent to Disney for approval/rejection,” Hoover told me. “Luckily on some of the claims I was able to escalate to appeal…But that will take seven days, so it’s still unacceptable.”
He expanded on his thoughts in a reply on X.
“It should not take me a full week to dispute something like this,” Hoover argued. “Disney should not be able to use copyright infrastructure to strongarm people into not using Steamboat Willie by pretending it is copyrighted in bad-faith.”
It should not take me a full week to dispute something like this. Disney should not be able to use copyright infrastructure to strongarm people into not using Steamboat Willie by pretending it is copyrighted in bad-faith.
— Quinton Reviews🎬 (@Q_Review) January 1, 2024
Nicole Bell, a global PR representative for YouTube, stated that the platform doesn’t mediate copyright claims. “It is between the parties involved,” she said in an e-mail to Inside the Magic. “It’s not up to YouTube to decide who ‘owns the rights’ to content, which is why we give copyright holders tools to make claims and uploaders tools to dispute claims that are made incorrectly.”
But Bell’s statement didn’t mention that the content in question recently entered the public domain.
“When a copyright holder notifies us of a video that infringes on their copyright, we remove the content promptly in accordance with the law,” she concluded. “A copyright strike can be resolved if the user submits a counter-notification and prevails in that process.”
Live streaming platform Twitch is under scrutiny, too. Streamer DollipDaze shared this screenshot after the platform muted a video recording of her live-reacting to Steamboat Willie after it entered the public domain.
We watched steamboat willie after it entered public domain and the vod got muted. so disney? i’m coming for everythign you’ve got.
we watched steamboat willie after it entered public domain and the vod got muted. so disney? i'm coming for everythign you've got. 🧑⚖️ pic.twitter.com/sQyIvI1WQC
— Dollip Daze 💙 (@DollipDaze) January 1, 2024
Other platforms have already stopped striking Steamboat Willie content. One only needs to open X to see hundreds of off-color depictions of Mickey Mouse, and gaming platform Steam allowed developers to upload a trailer for a Steamboat Willie-inspired horror game. Hoover even successfully used the Disney short on TikTok:
@quinton.reviews Check out this new animation im doing
Hoover (Quinton Reviews) called YouTube’s response to Inside the Magic’s questions “ridiculous.” As of Tuesday evening, his claims have not been resolved.
How should YouTube and other platforms handle automatic copyright claims as more material enters the public domain? Share your thoughts with Inside the Magic in the comments.