1. A computer-implemented method for detecting unauthorized content items, the method comprising: receiving, using a hardware processor, criteria relating to an application of a circumvention technique to one or more video content items, wherein the criteria includes abuse criteria that describes the circumvention technique and a transform for use with the one or more video content items in which the circumvention technique was applied; generating, using the hardware processor, an abuse query that includes at least a portion of the abuse criteria that describes the circumvention technique; determining, using the hardware processor, from a plurality of video content items, a subset of video content items responsive to the abuse query; applying, using the hardware processor, for each video content item in the subset of video content items, the transform to each video content item to obtain a transformed video content item; generating, using the hardware processor, for each transformed video content item, a fingerprint that represents the transformed video content item; and comparing, using the hardware processor, the fingerprint of the transformed video content item to a plurality of fingerprints associated with reference video content items to determine whether the video content item corresponding to the transformed video content item matches one of the reference video content items.