Hi I'm about to launch a skateboarding website, where there will hopefully be lots of multimedia. But what I want to know is, if I get videos off youtube and embed them (theyre not mine) is that legal?? Also, there will be pictures. If the picture has no copyright sign, can I use it? And if it does have a copyright sign, can I use it without asking them as long as I say it's copyright to them? Thanks in advance Simon
"But what I want to know is, if I get videos off youtube and embed them (theyre not mine) is that legal??" You can embed them, but if you're running adsense, make sure you understand the terms. Also, there will be pictures. If the picture has no copyright sign, can I use it? And if it does have a copyright sign, can I use it without asking them as long as I say it's copyright to them? No, you cannot use any picture without permission from the copyright holder. All artwork and photos come with an automatic copyright upon creation. The copyright symbol or lack of one means nothing as to usage. Giving credit doesn't give you rights to use an image unless that is the copyright holders terms of usage.
Some images you can get the rights to by adding a link to the website... most pics aren't worth it but some are
You should get a lot of photos on stock photo sites like istockphoto. Also http://www.sxc.hu/ has some free stock photos.. Photos you can use.. And you can even buy some photos cheaply.. For skateboarding videos, I am sure none of the home vidoes type guys will be bothered to copyright their videos unless you are dealign with professionals. You can mail them and ask if you can use their video.. Many of them will be happy to allow you..
blogspotter, the site is going to be for skateboarders to upload pics, tips, videos and post on a forum. so hopefully most stuff will be their own, but im sure there'll be some people who upload videos from youtube saying 'cool vid' and stuff like that... so thats why i need to know about the vids... thanks for the links, guys, means a lot Simon
All videos are automatically copyrighted (it's a common mistake to think you must do something to have a copyright). You'll need to make sure the videos are uploaded by the copyright holder or by someone who has permission to do so. If someone uploads a video which does not have permission to be uploaded, you can be held liable (youtube has been sued) - but usually what will happen is that they will ask you to take it down or file a DMCA with your host or google. That will lead to your site or page being taken down and/or google deindexing your site. With youtube videos, the copyright holder would usually contact youtube directly to have the video removed. The easiest way to think of it is.... if you didn't create it, you don't own it, and you need permission to use it.
yeah and as youtube is owned by google that wont be hard to deindex / unindex but as its other peoples videos then its them who will be in trouble if they upload bad stuff even if you use them but if you want to be extra safe then put under video ''this video is not mine and therefore i can not be held responsible for any legal issues'' or something like that
That sort of disclaimer is legally meaningless. If you infringe on someone's copyright, no disclaimer is going to give you protection.
hmm.... so if I put in my TOS that you were held liable for any content uploaded that wasnt yours.. ..would this not suffice, or will it be meaningless, i have two people telling me different things?
The website owner can ultimately be held responsible for the content on their website. A website owner can be guilty of contributory infringement for just linking to certain types of content. Now if you were sued, you could turn around and sue someone else as the responsible party to try and recover damages, but a disclaimer that says you aren't responsible for anything isn't go to give you blanket protection. If it was that easy to shed liability, everyone would just have a disclaimer saying "I'm not responsible for anything" and there would be no more lawsuits -- it just doesn't work that way. YouTube doesn't upload content, they have a disclaimer written by a team of lawyers and also remove material immediately -- yet that hasn't stopped them from being sued.
so, what could I do to protect myself from being sued? Are you saying I could sue them for disobeying the rules and ultimately getting me sued? And, would it be illegal if I embedded something from YouTube that wasnt mine? Thanks in advance Simon
"Are you saying I could sue them for disobeying the rules and ultimately getting me sued?" If you hire a web designer to design a site, and you tell them only to use pictures they have rights to use, and it turns out they took pictures without permission - it's the owner of the website that is going to get sued and ordered to pay damages. The site owner could then turn around and sue the web designer to try and collect their damages. There is nothing you can do to prevent from never being sued. What you can do is take steps to limit your exposure. You can't run a site that openly allows copyright protected material to be posted. I would review the steps of taken by other sites (like youtube) and have a policy for removing any copyright protected material immediately upon notice. That isn't saying you can put up anything and hide behind a disclaimer of "I'll take it down if I am contacted". You're probably going to be fine if you stick to embedding youtube videos as the copyright holder is going to go to youtube to have the material taken down and not bother with individual sites (as long as you're not involved in the posting of material on youtube). There is a difference between a site where someone posts a link to an bootleg movie vs. a site that specializes in links to bootleg material. Another step might be to look into forming an LLC or corporation that owns the website. That would certainly help protect personal assets from any type of lawsuit. This isn't a step you would need to take if you are only talking about youtube material.
well, basically, the site is a skateboarding community where people can upload their own pictures/videos for all to see, but I'm sure I'll get the odd person who sees a cool picture/video and posts it anyway... ..this is my problem... +rep btw
I'd like to add that even if the material is republished on your website under a license from the copyright holder, so that there is no copyright violation, the person who is DEPICTED in the video (as opposed to the person who shot the video) also has rights that you may be violating. In that case, it is probably less likely that you will get sued and more likely that you would simply receive a demand to remove the material, but you do have some exposure. A "real" publisher would make sure that they not only have permission from a photographer but also what is known as a "model release" from the person in the video.
Thanks for the advice hmm, i suppose if someone has been taking pictures of them, though, then they would probably object there and then if they didnt want their photo to be published...