Google offers YouTube copyright support

• 20 November 2015 Technology
  
   
  
  
  YouTube owner Google says it will help fund up to $1m (£650,000) in legal fees for some content creators who have received copyright takedown notices.

  
  

  It will step in if it feels their material is considered to be fair use.
  
  However the firm admitted that only a handful of people have been chosen to benefit from this support.
  
  Copyright holders are able to make requests to Google - or other sites - to take down content under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
  
  However there are exceptions to the law, which vary around the world but can include the use of other material for the purposes of commentary and parody.
  
  If a small portion of somebody else's work is used in this context, or in news reporting or for teaching purposes in the US, it can be exempt from copyright legislation.
  "We are offering legal support to a handful of videos that we believe represent clear fair uses which have been subject to DMCA takedowns," wrote Fred von Lohmann, Google's copyright legal director, in a blog post.
  
  The firm will keep these videos online in the US and cover the cost of any lawsuits, he added.
  

  "We're doing this because we recognise that creators can be intimidated by the DMCA's counter-notification process and the potential for litigation that comes with it.
  
  "While we can't offer legal protection to every video creator - or even every video that has a strong fair use defence - we'll continue to resist legally unsupported DMCA takedowns as part of our normal processes."
  
  The videos that will be defended are not visible in the UK but include two video game reviews and a piece which contains news footage of Rachel Dolezal, the American woman who was born white but now says she is black, reports Wired.
   

India's central bank employees strike over pensions

• 20 November 2015 Business
    
  Most of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) 17,000 employees went on strike on Thursday in what the central bank described as "mass casual leave".

  The walk out resulted in "some interruptions" to clearing and settlement operations at the central bank, but it said that its systems were largely operational.
  Four unions had called for the strike to demand better pension benefits.
  It was also against reforms that would reduce the RBI's regulatory powers.
  The central bank has been in debate over its policy independence with the government, which has been trying to assert more influence over the RBI's interest rate setting process.
  The government wants to create a rate-setting board with its appointed members to vote on such decisions.
  The RBI has cut interest rates four times this year, with the latest move in September to boost growth as inflation hit a record low on tumbling commodity prices.
  

  'Losing independence'

  Union leaders said the dispute over retirement benefits showed that the bank was losing its independence, because it used raise pensions without approval from the government.
  Workers want their pensions to be increased to reflect rising costs and payments to former employees raised by $75 (£49) a month so that they can afford healthcare.
  The unions have warned of longer strikes in the near future if the central bank does not meet its demands.