Posted by PTravel on 12/06/06 03:59

"Colin B" <Colin B@cb.org> wrote in message news:45763934$1@clear.net.nz...
>
> "PTravel" <ptravel@travelersvideo.com> wrote in message
> news:4tmit2F14ud57U1@mid.individual.net...
>
> Thanks very much PTravel for helping readers to understand the legal
> position over copyright infringements. You say it's not Youtube's job to
> instruct
> uploaders on the law. However, in view of the huge number of apparent
> copyright infringements on Youtube, the rather serious consequences of
> uploading copyrighted video without the permission of the owners does not
> appear to be an issue for thousands of people! Perhaps these people do
> need some further instruction!

Youtube's demographic isn't limited to teens and people in their 20s.
Though a lot of Youtube is devoted to young people's videoblogs, take a look
at the travel section some time. I don't think it's any business'
responsibility to educate people about how not to violate the law -- that's
the place of schools and parents.


>
> There are several reports on internet about Youtube being sued, despite
> the fact that website operators cannot be held responsible for infringing
> material posted by their users. See, for example:
>
> http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060718-7285.html

Anyone can sue. The law is pretty clear that Youtube isn't liable.

>
> One of the argument in this case is that, because Youtube is hosting the
> videos themselves, the video site actively encourages copyright
> infringement. I liked this discussion about copyright, it is well worth
> watching:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr9SQ4qkMMk

Sorry, I don't have the time to listen to this. If he's a copyright lawyer,
and is explaining copyright law accurately, then he's done a good service
for the Youtube community and, if anything, demonstrates that Youtube works
as it should.

>
> But I wonder whether Youtube itself actively searches for, and routinely
> takes down, what are obviously copyright infringing video clips (rather
> than waiting for complaints to come in)?

They have to wait. If they take responsibility for reviewing submissions,
they jeopardize their immunity under the statute.

> Just one example, type in in the search area "Elton John" and see how many
> videos are likely to be copyright infringers. Do the same for any other
> celebrity and you can see the huge number of DVD and TV clips there are on
> Youtube that most likely infringe copyright. If I owned a video sharing
> web site, I think I would make a concerted effort to take down videos that
> obviously infringed copyright.

Why? You're not liable and, if you take an active hand in the content, you
run the risk liablity if one slips through.

> Then, you would be able to demonstrate to anyone that the site in no way
> encourages copyright infringement.

Youtube doesn't encourage copyright infringement. One of the tests for
contributory infringement liability for a given application is whether it
has a substantial non-infringing purpose. Clearly Youtube does, as proven
by the huge amount of original content, ranging from hundreds (thousands?)
of video blogs, my travel videos, the lonelygirl15 saga, etc.

> Just think of the number of Youtube videos that even one employee could
> take down in one week by simply searching for celebrities and other key
> words in order to show up what are almost certainly "illegal" copies!

But why do that? By doing so Youtube risks incurring liability. As it is
now, it's non-liable as a matter of law.

>
> But as has been said several times in this thread, it seems that there are
> some copyright holders who simply don't mind samples of their work
> remaining on Youtube because of the advertising value they provide.

Maybe. Maybe not. It's really irrelevant to the question of legality.

> It may be of advantage to Youtube also to leave such videos on the site
> because of the large numbers of hits on the site these videos produce.
> This, in turn, might increase the market value of the Youtube site and
> encourage more advertisers to advertise their products on Youtube.
>
>
>
>
>

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