YouTube rode to the top by streaming petabytes of copyrighted material that would get anybody who tried to replicate their path destroyed by copyright strikes
This is actually true. I distinctly remember that about 50% of the videos I used to watch on YouTube made me think "better watch this before the copyright holder finds out it's here". Entire British TV shows, Japanese anime movies, stolen corporate training content, audiobooks, etc. Impossible to replicate the growth trajectory in a ContentID world.
