Plagiarism Today - Latest Comments in Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

Nath — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:24:35 -0000

This is a nice informative article but not exactly what I was looking for. I was looking for something about the way people keep taking other peoples personal videos (like for example pet vids) and trying to take credit for them.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

dadsaa — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:09:42 -0000

You Have NO LIFE!!!

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

Jonathan Bailey — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:49:57 -0000

You've actually got three separate issues here. The first is the fair use one, the second is the DMCA and the second is YouTube's TOS.

The fair use issue is difficult to predict but since educators have such great leeway on fair use issues it seems likely you would have clearance here. It would depend n on the specifics of the actual case, but I think you'd likely be starting from a good vantage point, a transformative use for educational benefit, etc.

The DMCA could be an obstacle depending on if YouTube and rightsholders considered the use of YouTube to be a digital lock that is being "circumvented" by you downloading it. Even if you are intending to make a fair use of the work, it might be an infringement of the DMCA.

You can read more about this specific area here:

http://www.chillingeffects....

Finally, you have YouTube's TOS, which strictly forbids downloading. Even if it is legal under the DMCA and fair use, if you wave those rights under the TOS, it could be a breach of contract and a possible violation of the computer fraud and abuse act.

Though there are questions as to whether a TOS can apply to those who don't expressly agree to it (IE: Non-registered users) but this is by in large a new area of law that hasn't been widely tested.

That being said, it doesn't seem as if YouTube is doing much to stop downloading of their videos. Many sites make the process easy and operate in the open.

Do I think it's technically legal? I don't know. Too many hard questions to get a good answer. Do I think you'd ever get in legal trouble for it? Probably not. YouTube doesn't seem to press the downloading issue and no rightsholder is going to go after you, especially if they gave permission for educational use.

Of course, you could always try to brow beat your IT staff into allowing limited YouTube usage. But I suppose the odds of that are slim.

Hope this helps!

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

Craig Nansen — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:04:30 -0000

In education we have the opposite issue - there are great videos uploaded by the copyright holder (often other teachers) that are there for us to use in classroom settings. However, many schools block YouTube so that teachers can't access those videos from their classrooms.

Do educators, using Fair Use, have the right to download these videos to their computer for use in the classroom?

From YouTube's site:
Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only and may not be downloaded, copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, broadcast, displayed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any other purposes whatsoever without the prior written consent of the respective owners.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

Jonathan Bailey — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:21:18 -0000

I hate to be the one to say it, but that is not true. If a site is non-profit, that only affects damages in a courtroom in most cases, not whether it is actually infringing. Since there is infringement, it can be taken down with a DMCA.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

Josh Chacin — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:44:28 -0000

Though if your site is no for profit. I don't think they can take you down for DMCA. But I honestly don't know.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

Jonathan Bailey — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:32:13 -0000

Real fast, in your exceptions list, you forgot the Angry Video Game Nerd.

As for blaming YouTube, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, the copyright climate they are in is not their fault. Viacom and others put them in this constant state of fear and until the courts come down on this issue. YouTube has been a target since day one and they know it. As such, they feel the need to go above and beyond to keep themselves on stable legal ground.

On the other, most video hosts don't have these issues. I don't see problems like this on Revver, for example. The reason is that they have balanced DMCA procedures. They value fair use and protect users from false notices. The DMCA gives hosts that right if they are willing to stand next to them in a lawsuit.

The problem is that YouTube, and thus Google, has the funding and the lawyers to make such a stand, but also much more to lose. So, rather than fight it out over individual users, they fight the larger battle and often times trample the little guys for what they see is the greater good.

Whether or not they are right will depend on the verdict. I guess we'll see...

Thank you for your comment!

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:19:34 -0000

A friend of mine had his Fair Use review of a Super Nintendo game taken down by ESPN. Super Nintendo. We're talking 1992 video games, here.

Meanwhile, the "This is Sportscenter" videos that random people uploaded two years ago still stand.

I intend to do fair use reviews of anime and movies, but it has been proven time and time again that if you review anime, you will be banned. A fraudulent DMCA claim was filed by Studio Ghibli against a reviewer last month.

Hell, prominent anime voice actor Johnny Yong Bosch, who had permission from his company to review anime on a show called "Anime TV," was BANNED by YouTube because they only FEARED someone would file a DMCA claim against him!

I'm sick of people saying that we shouldn't blame YouTube. YES WE SHOULD. If it's something that may even have an inklet of potential copyright infringement, YouTube usually jumps the gun and deletes it, citing that the video is, "of an inappropriate nature." They're cowards that have zero respect for Fair Use and the users that got them to where they are today.

No one is safe from fraudulent, frivolous copyright claims on YouTube. If you're a 10-year-old kid with 5 or more YouTube accounts, you have the power to bring down almost any director or content creator you don't like.

YouTube favors the flagger over the content creator, 99.9999% of the time (Exceptions: smosh, LisaNova, lonelygirl15).

YouTube's management is a disgrace.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

Jonathan Bailey — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:54:51 -0000

Thanks for the help!

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

Justinfh2Point0 — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:36:21 -0000

Great article. I'll be glad to direct some of youtube buddies to it.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

JB — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:21:58 -0000

Bright: Yes, that is your punishment. However, I think you made two typos in your comment. I believe that should be inciting and rude. That seems to better describe the podcast most weeks.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

bright — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:55:41 -0000

ah! sorry... that's what i get for skipping the podcasts! it's nothing personal... i need a new laptop. i'm sure you are every bit as insightful and erudite as i would hope.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

JB — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:42:27 -0000

John: I'm sorry that your comment didn't go through. I have to agree with what you said though. The problem with fair use is that it is handled on a case by case basis. I can tell you what *should* make your use fair and what likely would not, but I have no freaking clue what will or will not pass when you actually get in front of a judge.

This was intended to be a more general look at the issue. However, your point is well taken and is something I've brought up in the past.

That being said, if we can not rely on fair use at all, even under the most basic of circumstances, then having the provisions makes no sense. I agree with what you're saying, but I shudder at the thought of living in such a world where every reliance on fair use first requires consultation with an attorney. When I do my DMCA Seven series, I should, in theory consult with my lawyer(s) about my use of company logos.

I don't because I am confident the use is fair, both in terms of trademark and copyright.

Still, the point is taken. Reliance on fair us is always a risky gambit. I agree totally.

Bright: Actually, we covered that in the last episode of the Copyright 2.0 show and it was one of the (many) stories that inspired and necessitated this article. Between this, the NFL copyright notice takedowns, the million or so Daily Show takedowns and other Viacom foot-stompings, this just had to be said.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

bright — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:06:23 -0000

http://theknightshift.blogs...

thought you'd be interested in this backflip. there are some insightful comments sprinkled in with the lawsuit advocates.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

JB — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:38:21 -0000

Recording Studio: I have to agree with everything you said but one minor point about the expense. As expensive as it might be to consider fair use and research claims, the losses from a wrongful takedown suit could be much greater, in the hundreds of thousands per piece.

Viacom and others need to balance the risk, cost and reward carefully here.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

Recording Studio — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:13:55 -0000

There are more videos on YouTube that are made without any fair use in mind than those that are made completely innocently and fairly. So it is expected of the "hashers" to request take down of everything that is infringing. I guess checking whether the infringing is fair or unfair would take added effort, time and money which no one has to spare. Your tips to avoid the same were good. Need to see in practice how well they work.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

JB — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 15:17:47 -0000

Mr. J: The odds of you getting a takedown for a video that is not infringing in some way is slim to none. They are being vigilant and are pursuing cases that might have fair use arguments, but I wouldn't worry abuot the DMCA issues unless you're actively using other people's content.

I would, however, worry about the rights you sign over to YouTube when registering, be sure to listen to the latest Copyright 2.0 Show for that.

Jeremy: True, but the odds of getting DMCAed when you only host the video on your site and your only use is clearly fair is slim to none.

Still, the concern is valid.

Perhaps a middle ground then, a third-party file hosting service like S3?

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

John Bickerton — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:42:55 -0000

I don't know Jonathan, I think your Fair Use guidelines are somewhat misleading. The size of the clip and acknowledging the source don't really secure your usage as Fair Use.

Quoted from the Copyright Actâ¦
-----
The distinction between âfair useâ? and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.
-----

William Patry is senior copyright council for Google. This is what he has to say about Fair Use. I've edited it (you can read the whole post at http://williampatry.blogspo... He's a very good writer and it's a good blog.
--------------
Patry says....
I have been studying fair use seriously for over 25 years. I have read every English and U.S. fair use/fair dealing decision I could find, many of them many times over; I have read a voluminous amount of commentary on the subject; read and re-read the legislative history of Section 107 and spoke to those involved in that process; testified before Congress on the subject, and as a Congressional staffer, I was heavily involved in the 1992 amendments on fair use and wrote the House Judiciary Committee report on the subject; as a Policy Planning Advisor to the Register of Copyrights I went to Brussels to discuss with European Union officials how fair use works and how it might work with software reverse engineering; as a law professor I spent years teaching the subject; .... [snip]

Yet, despite all this concentrated attention, I doubt I understand fair use much better than when I was a law student... ...there are reasons anyone might feel uneasy about coming to grips with the subject: it is ad hoc, fact-oriented, allegedly completely equitable in nature, and dependent on a shadowy weighing of vague factors, to say nothing of the luck of the draw in the decisionmaker.

-------------

I would caution about depending too heavily on "fair use" as an argument for using content which is not your own - at least not without legal council.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

Jeremy Steele — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:22:26 -0000

The only problem I can see with hosting it yourself is if you get a DMCA your whole site could get taken down, not just the video. While that can be great for dealing with sploggers, it can be a pain in other situations.

Re: Why Fair Use Suffers on YouTube

Mr. J — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:09:59 -0000

I have videos hosted on Youtube, and I was going to take them down out of fear that I will have a DCMA filed on me, but after reading this article I think I'm pretty safe, although, I could take extra precausions for future videos. Thanks for this article, it was vert helpful.