I think the worst part of YouTube's implementation is that your video can stay up, with the revenue going to someone else without you having any control over it

I think the worst part of YouTube's implementation is that your video can stay up, with the revenue going to someone else without you having any control over it. Most videos get a huge portion of their profit in the first day, so this means that you basically loose a week or month of your income. I think it is very reasonable to argue that this is effectively YouTube allowing someone to steal the fruits of your labour. Even if the claim is dropped after a week the damage has been done. Most of your audience has seen the video and their ad revenue went to some company who made a likely incorrect claim. It seems like there should be an option to choose an automated response to the Content ID claim. For example if the Claimer tries to take the ad revenue immediately make the video private. This way when the process is over at least you have a chance to earn money for your hard work when you release the video. Of course YouTube is "in the right" here, you agree that they can take all of your ad revenue. They made this system which has some advantages over the base rules, but there are some huge disadvantages. At the end of the day I wish more people would publish to other platforms as well. But free unlimited video hosting with built-in promotion and monetization is a pretty sweet deal at the end of the day, even with its quirks.