Copyright issues and such on YouTube

[blushenka]

I'm making this topic because I want some opinions / actual facts about how this copyright problem has evolved, particularly when it comes to YouTube material. It seems to have become a bigger issue lately, and I'm guessing it has something to do with this economic crisis.

 

 

 

Let me give some examples, which will prove my point:

 

 

 

1.If someone else other than a 'legal representative' of the company which produced / distributed a movie posts a movie trailer, they get deleted. What is their logic there? Movie trailers are free promotion. YouTube is a very popular site and based on a cool scene that people may see in a fan-made trailer, someone might be tricked into going to see an otherwise stupid movie. This would actually work in their favour.

 

 

 

2. If you happen to make a video using some scenes from a movie with a song as the background (both of which aren't yours, but you give credit where it's due), it gets deleted. Again, that might actually benefit both the movie and the song, in obvious ways.

 

 

 

3. If you put material that you own (like, pictures that you took, or footage that you made yourself) with a musical background that you don't own (but again, give disclaimers, claim no money is made [duh]), it gets deleted.

 

 

 

Long story short:

 

You can no longer use any material that you don't own, for your own creative entertainment and other people's viewing pleasure, in the absence of any monetary gain.

 

 

 

So, how have the rules changed? Is this actually an old issue and I've just been clueless for a long time? Is YouTube no longer the free site that once was? And how cool is forbidding people to enjoy stuff just because someone can't make any money out of it?

[venomai]

You can never legally copy, remix and redistribute any material that you do not own the rights to, even if you give credit (unless permission is given). This is not a new policy introduced by YouTube -- it's at the core of United States copyright laws.

 

 

 

YouTube doesn't care what the content of the video is, or what kind of credit is given. All they know is that it is an infringement of copyright laws and a violation of their ToS, and thus it should be deleted.

 

 

 

Keep in mind that, while many videos are well intended, some may be seen as detrimental to the original makers (e.g. defamation, more interest in the remix, etc).

[Kimberly]

Youtube is a different creature. It violates most copyright laws because once you put that video up, Youtube is creating ad revenue off the website.

 

 

 

The most notable case of this is when they had the "Yugioh Abridged" videos taken down. While it was satire, and therefore completely legal, it was ILLEGAL to host it on Youtube, because youtube generates revenue from advertisements.

[Racheya]

Youtube is a different creature. It violates most copyright laws because once you put that video up, Youtube is creating ad revenue off the website.

 

 

 

The most notable case of this is when they had the "Yugioh Abridged" videos taken down. While it was satire, and therefore completely legal, it was ILLEGAL to host it on Youtube, because youtube generates revenue from advertisements.

 

 

 

True :( But since LittleKuriboh wasn't a part of the partnership program or anything there weren't (usually) advertisements on HIS videos specifcially so it wasn't even that illegal. I think.

 

 

 

YouTube are just scared. They get hit with a DMCA notice and if they don't respond then they're going to get their [wagon] kicked by Viacom or whoever's lawyers so they just remove the video, or mute the audio in some cases.

[Kimberly]

True :( But since LittleKuriboh wasn't a part of the partnership program or anything there weren't (usually) advertisements on HIS videos specifcially so it wasn't even that illegal. I think.

 

 

 

YouTube are just scared. They get hit with a DMCA notice and if they don't respond then they're going to get their [wagon] kicked by Viacom or whoever's lawyers so they just remove the video, or mute the audio in some cases.

 

 

 

Well that's a lot of legality issues there. Another reason is that they might've had a true, legal argument that LittleKuriboh's videos were not parodies--as he originally intended--but satire. If they could successfully argue that, then DMCA falls into place, the video does not fall under fair use, and it gets taken down.

 

 

 

You say they're scared like it's their fault. If anything, the dumb DMCA should be removed. It's a crippling law that lawyers bend to their advantage.

[blushenka]

Bear with me, peeps, because I'm slow and not American.

 

So. Youtube is making some money off the videos being posted, therefore they're responsible for deleting them once someone starts pointing fingers at a video violating some copyright. (according to that DMCA thingy title II, right? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act#Title_II:_Online_Copyright_Infringement_Liability_Limitation_Act). Okay, cool.

 

 

 

I guess the reason why I marvel at this now is that there seems to have been a surge of removals taking place recently. In like, a month or so, half of my favourites have been removed. When I search for videos, most of the first page results are removed. Some of the videos are, strangely enough 'not available in my country' (?) I'm no stranger to YT, which I've browsed for years. Yet these mass removals / bans seemed to have happened very suddenly. I'm wondering why are people getting so desperate these days to have these videos taken down when they have previously not bothered with them. I mean, you always knew the threat was there, when you were playing with videos and audios that aren't yours, or when you were writing fanfics, but you didn't seriously believe they'd materialize. People wrote funny and elaborate disclaimers thinking 'hey, it would be silly to get sued for *this little piece of work, it's just a bit of fun. And the people who were the owners seemed to be okay with - or at least tolerated having their works made popular in such ways and didn't see it as a problem. But all of a sudden, they're all like 'that's my bread and butter you're messing with, grrrr.'

 

I can't seriously be the only person who finds this a bit ludicrous.

[M_u_s_ii_X]

I HATE COPYRIGHT. YouTube is turning into a boring website now where only some videos are good. All the good videos have people singing along or listening to funny music to make people laugh. This isn't allowed anymore? Not even a 15 second clip of a song? ¬_¬

 

 

 

Even Metallica can't even post THEIR OWN VIDEOS.

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/MetallicaTV

 

 

 

It used to be a friendly site, but now its all about copyright, its mostly universalmusicgroup who delete videos and then upload them onto their youtube channel. >.<

[Jaziek]

you didnt seriously expect youtube to get this big, and for big companies not to want to control it's content?

 

 

 

Fair enough, when it was small, when nobody had heard of it, and when it had no big name brands backing it, you could put whatever the hell you wanted on. Now however, There isnt much you can put on. And believe you me, when people realize they cant go to youtube to watch good videos anymore and its just full of redarded 12 year olds hurting themselves for e-fame, traffic will plummet, and it'll be GG youtube.

 

 

 

They're only doing what is in their best interest. Although I must agree their automatic audio filtering software seems a teensy bit stringent. It's even been deleting stuff from band's official channels.

[Kimberly]

 

I can't seriously be the only person who finds this a bit ludicrous.

 

 

 

You're not, I do too. However, there's an ongoing fight against the illegal distribution of copyrighted materials going on across the world right now, not just in the USA. (See the Pirate Bay trials)

 

 

 

That's why lots of websites are "cracking down" on it now. Once places such as the IRAA and the film industry realize they're fighting a losing battle, you might see some of these nazi-ish re-enforcements of lengthy, loophole-filled laws relaxing.

[Racheya]

An interesting site to look at would be the Electronic Frontier Foundation's website.

 

 

 

There's a lot of information about DMCA's, YouTube videos ect on there. They deal with unfair takedowns and other interesting stuff.

[FlameHawk18]

YouTube has gotten a lot more boring... honestly, the music they put on some videos actually makes people want to buy the song or album it had on the video.

 

 

 

I mean, who would watch your video for just one minute of a song? It's really over the top.

[Lenticular_J]

Huh, I dunno. Sometimes it seems like copyrights should be protected, and they're actually important and all, but so much of the time they're used idiotically. It's wierd. One of many of my conflicting ideas.

[Ouchy]

It's getting over pedantic. YouTube is just turning into [cabbage] now. I understand that there are copyright laws, but they are taking it to the extreme?

 

 

 

And when the say you have to own it, does that mean if you buy it off iTunes, you're safe? But then, how would they know. They would delete it, without a single thought.

[Giordano]

YouTube is becoming a storage for three things: A family e-video "book" (no one except those in the family cares), kids saying 4chan memes on their five-dollar web cameras trying to get e-fame, and (not funny) bloggers.

 

 

 

Now, because I barely surf YouTube it shouldn't concern me. However, if they are shutting down videos with "copyrighted" music, this could be a huge blow to the machinimaters (and other filmmakers). While YouTube isn't the best place to put machinima, it still holds a very large audience. So I really hope they don't take down my, and other, people's legit videos. A video with a plot, character, and comedy/good-drama. Not a stupid 11 year old Fred.

[Racheya]

It's getting over pedantic. YouTube is just turning into [cabbage] now. I understand that there are copyright laws, but they are taking it to the extreme?

 

 

 

And when the say you have to own it, does that mean if you buy it off iTunes, you're safe? But then, how would they know. They would delete it, without a single thought.

 

 

 

No it doesn't mean you're safe. You have to be the artist (or their lawyer) to use it.

 

 

 

I do understand though why this happens though and to be honest it's not a major tragedy. If I make a music video with copyrighted music to a TV show I watch (copyrighed of course) then they are perfectly right to say GTFO. I'm using THEIR property...

[FlameHawk18]

Well, at least we still have Boxxy... :thumbdown:

[warri0r45]

I'm making this topic because I want some opinions / actual facts about how this copyright problem has evolved, particularly when it comes to YouTube material. It seems to have become a bigger issue lately, and I'm guessing it has something to do with this economic crisis.

 

 

 

Let me give some examples, which will prove my point:

 

 

 

1.If someone else other than a 'legal representative' of the company which produced / distributed a movie posts a movie trailer, they get deleted. What is their logic there? Movie trailers are free promotion. YouTube is a very popular site and based on a cool scene that people may see in a fan-made trailer, someone might be tricked into going to see an otherwise stupid movie. This would actually work in their favour.

 

 

 

2. If you happen to make a video using some scenes from a movie with a song as the background (both of which aren't yours, but you give credit where it's due), it gets deleted. Again, that might actually benefit both the movie and the song, in obvious ways.

 

 

 

3. If you put material that you own (like, pictures that you took, or footage that you made yourself) with a musical background that you don't own (but again, give disclaimers, claim no money is made [duh]), it gets deleted.

 

 

 

Long story short:

 

You can no longer use any material that you don't own, for your own creative entertainment and other people's viewing pleasure, in the absence of any monetary gain.

 

 

 

So, how have the rules changed? Is this actually an old issue and I've just been clueless for a long time? Is YouTube no longer the free site that once was? And how cool is forbidding people to enjoy stuff just because someone can't make any money out of it?

 

 

 

To respond to your examples, it doesn't matter how the content is used, you're still copying it and distributing it in your own way, which by definition violates copyright. It doesn't matter if the owner gains anything out of it because there are no such stipulations in copyright law. If you know that there are then I'd gladly be proven wrong.

 

 

 

As far as I can remember, youtube has never been a free site; I've always encountered examples of videos being removed for copyright reasons. The ones that aren't just haven't been caught yet. Perhaps some of the owners of the material don't care, but others do. They're not thinking about being "cool" in forbidding others from copying their material, they're just looking out for their own interests which they're perfectly entitled to do. Perhaps they can be nazis sometimes, but you have to give them the right to defend the distribution of their own material.

 

 

 

Having said that, I'm a bit of a hypocrite in that I don't live up to that right; I watch copyrighted material on youtube all the time. My rationalisation is that I don't buy music without getting a taste of it first and it's only though doing this that I have a ~100 CD collection and counting. At least I don't distribute it myself, I just help it along by being a viewer. If I can't find a band's music because they're being super stringent on copyright, then so be it. I'm definitely not going to complain because that would be like complaining when someone stops sending me free CDs in the mail.

[Wongtong]

There is a new law in New Zealand that will make ISPs cut off customers' internet connection if the customer is suspected of illegally downloaded movies/music etc. It starts this week I think (been postponed for some reason)... Why oh why.. :wall:

 

 

 

I wonder if watching Youtube counts as wrongfully downloading things. :S

 

 

 

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol ... 353387.ece for news article.

[Racheya]

There is a new law in New Zealand that will make ISPs cut off customers' internet connection if the customer is suspected of illegally downloaded movies/music etc. It starts this week I think (been postponed for some reason)... Why oh why.. :wall:

 

 

 

I wonder if watching Youtube counts as wrongfully downloading things. :S

 

 

 

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol ... 353387.ece for news article.

 

Sweet Jesus :o

 

 

 

Sometimes I don't realise how few laws the UK seems to have about internet regulation. (If they do have more, then I think I've just been ignoring them).

[Returned3]

It's horrendous. Videos are getting deleted all over the place because of this law. I search for copyrighted material all the time on youtube, it's where I get to learn of new music (Mostly).

 

 

 

And for the love of god, why do people even put 5 minute videos of themselves "reviewing" a certain thing. I understand if it's a clip of the thing but seeing your face and you talking for 5 minutes is downright wrong.

[Zygimantas]

4 of my vids just got disabled because of copyright issues. One about my top 10 metal songs, another about my top 10 bands. The third vid is a Naruto AMV and the last one is a Guild Wars vid. I'm pretty sure that soon enough the rest of my vids will get disabled , including my 99 hunter vid ( which contains levels 94-99 which I lost when my hard drive crashed), and my runescape history video ( which is becoming really popular). :wall:

 

 

 

 

 

[bleep] youtube nowadays :evil:

[Wongtong]

There is a new law in New Zealand that will make ISPs cut off customers' internet connection if the customer is suspected of illegally downloaded movies/music etc. It starts this week I think (been postponed for some reason)... Why oh why.. :wall:

 

 

 

I wonder if watching Youtube counts as wrongfully downloading things. :S

 

 

 

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol ... 353387.ece for news article.

 

Sweet Jesus :o

 

 

 

Sometimes I don't realise how few laws the UK seems to have about internet regulation. (If they do have more, then I think I've just been ignoring them).

 

Well that article is talking about Britain possibly introducing the law I think. But they really have brought in that law for New Zealand. :(

[Zygimantas]

Here you go, a great video on the copyright crap http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug6euUPrLRc

[I_am_Geed]

Well, at least we still have Boxxy... :thumbdown:

 

 

 

true, true, rofl

[Wizz]

Does this mean no more AMV's? :,(