A media company called MediaMuv has made $23 million in revenue from YouTube so far by displaying the music uploaded by artists to YouTube as their own. This is the largest amount unfairly won over copyright in YouTube history. So how did it happen?
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A two-person media company called MediaMuv claimed to own the rights to various Latin music songs and compositions and has held more than 50,000 royalties since 2017, according to music publishing reporter Kristin Robinson.
Biggest YouTube music copyright scam ever
For MediaMuv to claim these royalties and collect royalties through YouTube’s Content ID system, the scam company had to work with AdRev, a third-party company that has access to YouTube’s CMS and Content ID tools and helps artists manage their digital copyrights.
MediaMuv edited several fake documents and submitted them to AdRev. AdRev not only helped MediaMuv collect royalties for royalties, it also gave company founders direct access to YouTube’s CMS so they could claim royalties on their own. 4 years of fraud is over. The two were charged with conspiracy, phishing, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. One pleaded not guilty, while the other confessed; Explaining how they planned the fraud that went down in history, he clarified the event.
While the extent of the scam and the scale of the scheme is very unique, it’s certainly a situation many YouTube creators face. YouTube’s Conten ID system, which aims to help content producers, is used as a weapon for those who want to monetize content that does not belong to them. The MediaMuv incident is a great example of how scammers knowingly exploit digital copyright rules.