Warner Bros. Gaffe Highlights Potential Issues With Business Automation (Watch)

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Warner Bros. recently filed copyright claims against a number of websites that hosted the company’s popular movies like “The Dark Knight” and “The Matrix.” But among the sites asked to take down those popular movies was one you might now expect — Warner Bros.’ own website.

It’s likely that the company used an automated system to search the web for copyrighted content and then just sent the take down requests without actually checking the list of offending sites. And Warner Bros. isn’t the only company to use this type of automated system.

A mother recently had a video of her child dancing pulled from YouTube because a copyrighted Prince song could be heard in the background. Even though a mother posting a video of her child dancing clearly isn’t trying to steal money from Prince, piracy monitoring firms that use these automated systems don’t have to take factors like fair use into account.

This incident highlights a serious issue when it comes to copyright monitoring. It’s understandable that companies want to protect their intellectual property online. And automation can certainly make that process easier. But it can’t take certain factors into account, making it possible for companies to go a little overboard. Therein lies the risks of automation in business.

A Cautionary Tale on the Risks of Automation in Business

In many areas of business, automation can save time and make certain tasks easier. But it can’t do everything. Whether you’re protecting your copyrighted material or doing any number of other business tasks, sometimes it’s necessary to devote some actual human hours to at least ensure that your automated processes are working properly.

Warner Brothers Studios Photo Via Shutterstock