You Made This? I Made This: Cultures of Automatic (Mis)attribution on Tiktok

Abstract

In 2019, TikTok captivated international attention as a breakout short-video platform. A key affordance for user-generated content creators on TikTok is how easy the platform makes reproducing popular videos. The video creation interface allows users to make new videos based on the one they were just watching with just one tap. While these features make it fun and easy for users to replicate popular videos, it can also obscure the identity of the creators who created the ‘original’ content being reused. In this way, TikTok engenders a culture of misattribution. Users can freely reuse popular formats, audio clips, or even licensed music without any connection to the original source with impunity. Using a combination of an app walkthrough, a bespoke data scraping tool, content analysis, and a series of qualitative case studies, this study explores the contradictory logic of authorship and how (mis)attribution is shaping cultural production and platform practices on TikTok.

The economics of copyright in the digital age

“…For example, re-use is at the core of the short-video platform TikTok. With the "sounds" feature, the audio track of existing videos can be used as a basis for a new video and with "duets", users can put their new video next to an existing video (Valdovinos Kaye et al, 2021). Automated N&T systems have the potential to provide an efficient solution to massive-scale copyright enforcement, but they do not come without problems.…”

‘I Can Spend Forever on It Without Getting Bored’: Analyzing What College Students Like and Dislike About TikTok

“…Users can create, produce and act in their videos while consuming other creators’ content (Yang, 2022). TikTok’s algorithm filters content on the ‘For You’ page where personalised content appears, which creates opportunities for users to build connections with others who have similar interests and experiences due to algorithmic overlap (Barta & Andalibi, 2021; Kaye et al, 2020b). TikTok users can express themselves creatively (Du et al, 2020), use the platform as a place to self-disclose (i.e., uses and gratifications, Brammer et al, 2023), or benefit from taking in others’ content, which may elicit an emotional response and subsequently facilitate the establishment of interpersonal relationships (Chen et al, 2021).…”

The Economics of Copyright in the Digital Age

“…For example, re-use is at the core of the short-video platform TikTok. With the "sounds" feature, the audio track of existing videos can be used as a basis for a new video and with "duets", users can put their new video next to an existing video (Valdovinos Kaye et al, 2021). Automated N&T systems have the potential to provide an e cient solution to massive-scale copyright enforcement, but they do not come without problems.…”