thefj

I'm pretty sure you will need the creator's permission to re host the video. Otherwise it's just piracy.

In the LinkedIn case the scraping was allowed, I don't think that HiQ is creating a mirror. Also there's a case for LinkedIn not having much copywritable content there, only information.

YouTube's real moat is that after years of operation they're managing to maybe break even, even with Google's insane infra. It's just doesn't seem that profitable to host all the videos for free.

How about the business model the content producers choose for themselves, instead of one that is forced on them by a rent seeking company with good PR?

If I have ads on my site, I have no interest in someone replacing them and taking a cut.

You've missed the part where they already allow yellow taxis to have tablets with ads.