Okay , let me explain my site. I am using a free videoscript available in the net. I setup my Terms & Conditions about same as Youtube Terms. The site auto approve all videos , and any 2 user flag any video , the video will be shown at management and the admin will remove it. * if the video violate any part of terms , e.g copyright * Theres also a link to contact the support email if any case of copyright materials are found and require removal. The uploader also have the terms linked to tell the uploader to read the terms before upload. Next , the video is not host by my own servers , it is host under shared hosting of some US company at a fee of approx $30/month . The site is making less than $100 usd revenue monthly and is more like a site to provide entertainment. Is this site consider legal , its functionality is like youtube.
What type of videos? Users uploading their videos or users uploading any videos? Peers approving other peer's uploads? What do you mean by "auto approve" and how will you be accomplishing this?
Regarding this , just like Youtube , user upload videos , but they will be shown a terms that , they are suppose not allow to upload any copyright material . As you know , youtube just auto post any recent videos out without any moderator going through any approval. So do my site , whatever video post will be auto add to the database and shown.
It would seem legal to me but you need to consider the logistics of having such a site. Constant monitoring of offensive or copyright content is a must or you will have problems with your upstream and also the copyright holders. All in all, I would feel that it is not an easy web site to run, a lot of work will be involved as and when your site grows bigger and busier.
Make sure you have a way for users to report bad content and be sure to review for flagrant infractions. Example: Some a$$ uploads kid porn video to your site. You don't want that crap so you need a review process that takes place at some point and you need a way for users to complain. Also you want to watch out for guys uploading entire episodes or movies because this would be direct violation of MPAA etc etc. Just be careful.
Yes . I understand about this . But i cant possibly monitor all videos , have to rely on user flagging of videos and report to us via e-mail. The ways of report is very easy & the words " Copyright material should be reported to myemail@mydomain.com " and is shown on every page of the site.
One way you may want to consider is to have a moderating system in place, such that the videos are screened by moderators before they are allowed to be place for public viewing. But there are of course pros and cons in doing this. The ultimate issue is what is your comfort level with the current situation.
Yea, it is legal. It is beyond your control, to be able to predict the content of the video, as it is posted. Also your terms prohibit users from adding "copyrighted" videos, i beleive your website is 100% legal. Thank you.
Hmm I think as long as you take bad videos down if you are asked you will be ok, youtube hasnt been sued yet right? Most people would rather scare you than have to go to court, noone wants to go to court. Just don't go around and say "ok illegal videos are ok here".
Viacom sued YouTube for $1 billion (thousand million dollars). That case is apparently ongoing. Companies similar to YouTube have also been sued. That is despite the fact that there is a "safe harbor" provision in the DMCA that is supposed to protect companies like YouTube if they follow the rules. So, to cover yourself legally in the US, at the minimum you need to follow the DMCA safe harbor procedures. In outline: And the safe harbor only applies if you are considered an "innocent service provider" (see the link for details). And you can be sued, even if you follow all the rules.
Viacom may not have made the best decision to sue YouTube (Google). Anyway.... I wouldn't suggest to moderate videos before they are uploaded unless you want to bear the responsibility of ensuring that the videos are not copyright protected.
Yes it should be legal, butwhy are you trying to compete with youtube? It is like a corner store trying to compete with wal mart. Sorry to be an ass, but it is the truth.
As far as i know if remove the reported videos withing the alloted time period(as described in your TOS) it will be legal
Not really...the popularity of such sites proves that there's enough traffic to go around. And who says he's trying to compete with YouTube? People always get bored with a site and start nosing off for similar ones. Any site based on video can be successful and YouTube hasn't even scraped the surface.
Although it sounds legal to me in a sense, I would say if you have to ask the question you probably shouldn't do it.
The term "Video sharing" and act of doing this is not a proprietary of YouTube. Basically I would say, there's nothing wrong with it unless you are using YouTube's logo and mention about any affiliation to them without any consent.