this whole idea of copyright law is a mess right now.
intellectual property was made to allow corporations to profit from restrictions of freedom.
if intellectual property was intended to be of benefit to the individual, we wouldn't have these issues.
taking something that somebody else made and creating a tribute to it, should not be such a hassle.
presenting something to other people who would otherwise not be able to experience it, should not be such a hassle.
the whole concept that a person can make money out of something that is by it's very nature intangible, is absurd.
It's the broken nature of our economic systems that drives such concepts. How does an artist live otherwise?
in ancient systems, the bard was valued as a keeper and teller of information. they were supported by the society and did not have to sell the rights to their performances to stay alive. as society moved on, they performed to gain alms and buy food. they were paid for the performance, but they did not own the music. a painter could not charge people money to simply look at his paintings. the commissioner paid the artist to do the work.
these days, people are expected to pay just to experience art. it's a disgrace.
The initial cost of producing such work, that is something to take into consideration... but what of the artists who cannot get paid for their work? they produce it and give it away for free. This supports the argument that the current system supports the corporations, not the individual.
The behaviour of youtube, is merely a result of the current system. this system largely driven by US attitudes. the whole country is pretty much supported by this IP system. a very large portion of their revenue stream is brought in by the payments for the media they produce. if not for that, their coffers would start to dry up. it's sad that it has come to this, but it is the way it is. what to do about it? I doubt anyone would be very successful in changing a country from relying on that source of income that is so huge. they will become more aggressive pushing more ill conceived laws like SOPA in order to stop 'piracy'. (side note... is there a 'pirate party' in the USA?) youtube will of course have no option but to respond to the law makers in order to protect their interests. the things that will be taken down will of course reflect the people who more aggressively protect their IP. it seems unfortunate that some Japanese publishers are also very aggressive in that manner. is it any wonder that Japan also has a very large media industry and relies on that a fair bit?