Earlier quoted context omitted.
its crazy that those funds arent held in escrow until the video publisher gets to respond/the dispute is resolved
The funds are held in escrow. GP is wrong.
In general, the racketeers will ask for a fee whether they have rights to the IP or not. They play the numbers counting on people not calling their bluff, and googles limited 3 strikes policy on channel publishers.
It is a problem only slightly less nasty than channel hijacking. =3