YouTube copyright infringement thread

[Tim Vasquez]

YouTube copyright infringement issues

EDIT: THIS THREAD IS WAS SPLIT 11/29/07 FROM ANOTHER THREAD

YouTube's complaint process isn't working? I know DMCA paperwork is treated as serious stuff these days, so maybe they need to be faxed that instead.

Tim

 

[Dan Robinson]

They will usually take the offending videos down within 24 hours of the complaint. I'd be surprised if they were still on there this afternoon.

Honestly I think Youtube will go the path of Napster and won't be around in a couple of years (or less) after all the legal issues finally come down. They've generated a culture where copyright is trivialized and even laughed at (IE, 'everybody's doing it'), without realizing that consequences are inevitable. Copyright infringers have no defense when legally challenged in court, and are at the mercy of the plantiff for whatever he or she chooses to levy against them - up to the full penalty allowed by law.

I'm amazed at how infringement is becoming such a 'no big deal' thing for people, particularly for many of our younger generation (nothing personal against them). Especially after RIAA successfully got thousands each from teenage offenders. Youtube is no different and has a much broader reach, and a higher number of viewers, than Napster ever did.

 

[Melissa Moon]

Yeah taking people's videos and then publishing it somewhere without asking is a big no-no. I'm sure some of them would have consented if they had been kindly asked first. I like to remix songs on my computer (it helps me get better with the software and such) but I am careful never to post them anywhere for people to hear unless I have some kind of permission first (which I usually don't because it's so hard to get that especially from big-name artists). I believe there is a fair use clause that allows you to tinker around with video clips and such for your own personal use at home (like if you want to play around with video editing software to learn the ropes and whatnot), but as soon as you publish stuff for others to see (like on youtube or a personal website or whatever), then you have to be a LOT more careful (ie making sure you have permission).

I don't think anyone was trying to be ugly to you (at least at first)...they were trying to warn you before other people got mad. Some people who make a living selling their videos are really particular about others using their stuff because it can hurt their income.

Can you even sue youtube and be successful if someone posts copyrighted stuff without your permission? Since youtube makes each user check that box whenever they upload a clip stating that they have the right to post the material, I would think that the blame would instead fall upon the user and not youtube itself...

 

[Melissa Moon]

I'm amazed at how infringement is becoming such a 'no big deal' thing for people, particularly for many of our younger generation (nothing personal against them). Especially after RIAA successfully got thousands each from teenage offenders. Youtube is no different and has a much broader reach, and a higher number of viewers, than Napster ever did.

Dan, I think most people simply aren't educated about the seriousness of copyright infringement...especially kids! I mean, most kids don't even care about what they're learning in their English class, so what are a conglomerate of laws that are probably above many of their heads going to mean to them? I sure didn't know anything about copyright infringement when I was a young teenager. I was too busy worrying about whether I'd get a date to Homecoming.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Dan, I think most people simply aren't educated about the seriousness of copyright infringement...especially kids! I mean, most kids don't even care about what they're learning in their English class.

True, but you'd think that with all of the RIAA action in recent years that awareness of copyright among teens would be at an all-time high. It seems to be doing just the opposite. Especially when their parents are the ones who will end up footing the bill in the case of a lawsuit. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't sue a 15 year old for $50,000 for posting one of my videos on YouTube one time. There are the cases where kids honestly don't know any better. But as time goes on it gets harder for me to believe that people don't know what copyright means.

 

[Dick McGowan]

I've noticed LiveLeak has a lot of copyrighted stuff (even stolen from youtube lol). I saw a video of mine on there, asked them to take it down, and within 10 minutes it was.

 

[Dick McGowan]

http://www.savetube.com/

I've also noticed several of these websites popping up in the last few months that will allow you to save any youtube video, simply by typing in the URL and hitting submit.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Yeah - Liveleak, Break, MetaCafe, Ebaumsworld, Ifilm, etc (there are dozens of those viral video sites) are bad about taking stuff. I'm always having to check up on those sites. They make good ad revenue from all the content they use too, some of them are grossing over $1 million a year. A lot of them are paying the submitter $400 for each video if it makes their home page. As such, those guys don't get a little DMCA notice from me - I just send a screen capture to my attorney and they'll have to deal with him.

 

[Karen Politte]

Unfortunately, this ex-member was just one idiot in the long, loooonnnng supply line of idiots that are lining up to become Teh Best Strom Chaser that Ever Lived. I agree with some of the comments above - there are millions of internet-literate kids out there who probably don't even KNOW that copyright infringements can apply to them. YouTube is the same as MySpace and every other one of these types of sites. Some of them may even be so young that you'd have to sue their parents to get damages from any infrigements.

I must admit, though, making a montage like that (I never got a chance to view it) and then posting about it on the forum where many of your victims reside is fairly dumb by anyone's standards - and more than that, I would have to wonder at the exact motives behind this sort of action. One wonders if it was indeed deliberate - although why you would deliberately open yourself up to public lambasting, destroy your reputation in the chaser community (IF you were a chaser - which in this case, you weren't), and provie a platform for lawsuits is beyond me.

I sure am glad I don't have any video out there......as dodos like this would give me an even worse headache than the one I already have.

KL

 

[Joe Zemek]

Honestly I think Youtube will go the path of Napster and won't be around in a couple of years (or less) after all the legal issues finally come down. They've generated a culture where copyright is trivialized and even laughed at (IE, 'everybody's doing it'), without realizing that consequences are inevitable.

I'm amazed at how infringement is becoming such a 'no big deal' thing for people, particularly for many of our younger generation (nothing personal against them). Especially after RIAA successfully got thousands each from teenage offenders. Youtube is no different and has a much broader reach, and a higher number of viewers, than Napster ever did.

Soooooooo many who were kids at the height of Napster learned that they could do something and that therefore it must be OK. I don't think this ex-member kid really understands copyright as evidenced by his "WTF..." comment. It's likely he has learned to do this with his peers who are doing the same stuff without wasting time worrying about copyrights, and has now gotten a taste of reality coming to the adults.

It's also likely that kids who grew up stealing music in a situation where asking permission was never an option would not think to ask permission in situations where it is an option.

As for enforcement, it would be nice if the RIAA actions had more of an effect, but part of this situation is the invincible/uncatchable mindset, aka, "It won't happen to me" or "You only get caught if you make mistakes." To such thinkers, consequences are never inevitable... until they're caught.

 

[Dick McGowan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHeQWMCU2_I

Looks like a huge watermark on a copyrighted video didn't stop this 14 year old kid from putting it up as his own. Did he video tape his computer? lol x 100

At least Doug K's stamp is on there advertising his website, that kid has pulled 18,000 views off of it.

Edit: He has one of Mike Theiss' also. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtxFnVBrAm4

Edit 2: This kid is operating a copyright infringement factory! Lots of stuff on there of different chasers.

 

[Danny Neal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHeQWMCU2_I

Looks like a huge watermark on a copyrighted video didn't stop this 14 year old kid from putting it up as his own. Did he video tape his computer? lol x 100

At least Doug K's stamp is on there advertising his website, that kid has pulled 18,000 views off of it.

Edit: He has one of Mike Theiss' also. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtxFnVBrAm4

Edit 2: This kid is operating a copyright infringement factory! Lots of stuff on there of different chasers.

Once again it is a younger teen. Seems like they just want to get the good comments and ratings for their own page. Even on the related search from this video, you see people ripping these videos. Thats what I don't understand.....you see the SAME VIDEO posted by 1091109310 different people.....I guess they were all there at the same time and in the same shot shooting. LoL. I guess its cool to brag to your friends about videos you obviously didn't shoot.

I guess clicking ADD TO FAVORITE just isn't enough.

 

[Danny Neal]

Compilation of stolen videos, I apologize if I do not name everyone involved as it was just a quick glance.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HzZK65IKe2A --- Bill Hark mostly

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RHYl90ZR5o4 --- Charles Edwards

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RS3hFexxa4Q

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dtHzJLgxmO4

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jB-aQZ2RpTQ

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LIDb_lq_oGg ---- Doug's

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uKFxUWlxfz0 -Reed

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o231V5bYQrI

http://youtube.com/watch?v=owAjL7iwEco - Reed

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XEW5UCIMyrQ

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uh7v-SuDWOg - Reed

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YiRGxZ6GjMk

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FuLLRD4w3NA

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FuLLRD4w3NA - H's pic as cover page

http://youtube.com/watch?v=y3o-4UVLjyk

***IF your account is on here and it is your video and I claimed it as stolen, I apologize, I checked with a couple others before I posted and we came to this solution so far....It is amazing what the simple search of "tornado" on Youtube will pull up***

 

[David Drummond]

From the arguments I have heard time and again, people that do this think "It's ok, I am not making any money off it." "You can't sue me, I didn't make any money off it."

For some reason, the general population thought is that intellectual material (i.e. anything copyrighted) is a free for all as long as you don't make money.

 

[Doug_Kiesling]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHeQWMCU2_I

Looks like a huge watermark on a copyrighted video didn't stop this 14 year old kid from putting it up as his own. Did he video tape his computer? lol x 100

At least Doug K's stamp is on there advertising his website, that kid has pulled 18,000 views off of it.

Edit: He has one of Mike Theiss' also. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtxFnVBrAm4

Edit 2: This kid is operating a copyright infringement factory! Lots of stuff on there of different chasers.

Thanks, I just sent Youtube a request to pull the video.

The funny thing is that I get a bunch of people on my other youtube videos crying about the watermarks and saying I should remove them.

UPDATE, while writing this, I kept looking on You Tube and found this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP2LBC-JY7E&feature=related

That was a compiled demo video I did over 4 years ago for a couple of news producers that's not even in my archives since it has all of the videos from 07/14/2003 in one video.

Maybe we should all start thinking about a class action lawsuit like Viacom has in the works against YouTube.