Do trailer sites violate any copyrights ?

Hi guys, let's say you have a website with an url like this: www.watchshrek3trailer.com

in that site you have the image of the cover of the movie and an embedded youtube video of the trailer of shrek 3.

i want to know two things

1) is the URL violating any copyrights

2) is having the movie cover or the embedded video of the trailer a copyright infringement ?

thanks!

 

The url is trademark infringement.

If you don't have permission to display a video, it is copyright infringement.

 

all the trailer clips start with this disclaimer:

Can this be considered as a "permission" ? (and does it matter at all since the video is hosted in youtube and not in my site, all what i am doing is providing the link) ?

also about the URL, what are the risks? all what they can do is email and ask me to take down the sites ? or can they "sue" me for some "damages" that i am not aware of ?

thanks!

 

No, that is not permission. You need "express" permission from the copyright holder - i.e. "you are authorized to display our content on your site".

Just because something is on youtube, it does not mean you without risk if the copyright holder wasn't the one who uploaded it. Practically speaking, they probably won't come after you - but they could.

With trademark infringement in the domain, they do not have to give you any notice to take down the site, they can just file a WIPO to take the domain AND/OR sue you for damages. When you register a domain, it is YOUR responsibility to check for possible infringement. Ignorance of the law is not a defense.

 

ok i understand that practically they won't come after me, but i still want to know more, you said damage, i am really interested about this one, what kind of damage i am causing? i am providing them with free advertising for the trailer of their movie, no? i understand that they can take down the domain anytime, but can they sue for "damages" in this particular case ?.

 

Of course they can sue you for damages - both actual and punitive. A trademark holder is legally required to protect their mark. Unauthorized use is dilution of their mark. So not only can they sue you for every penny the site ever generated, they can sue you for damages meant to "punish" you. Forget about damages, a registered mark holder is able to ask treble their legal fees. Legal fees in a TM case can easily reach hundreds of thousands of dollars. The copyright part of the infringement is the least of your worries, it's using their trademark in a domain name that is going to give you the biggest exposure. It's their mark, they own it, they get to decide who uses it and who doesn't. The fact that you think you are helping them doesn't matter - it's doesn't give you a right to use their mark nor is it a legal defense.

 

let me put it this way, there are hundreds of thousands of domain containing artists names, car names, used in fan sites and stuff. we all heard of copyright owners emailing the webmaster and asking them to drop the domains, or as u said they can shut down the sites by themselves in some cases, but, do you know if any case and can u link me to a Fan site which was "sued" for damages caused by just using the "artist" or "movie" or car or whatever copyrighted name in their domain ? has this happened before ?

 

You keep confusing copyright with trademark. There are thousands of trademark lawsuits and each trademark holder is different. Microsoft has gone after thousands of sites infringing upon their marks. LucasArts is known to be aggressive. Madonna.com was taken from its owner for trademark infringement at a cost of well over a million dollars in legal fees. It doesn't matter if there are a thousand examples or none - there is a risk. It the trademark holder doesn't mind and thinks you are helping them, then ask for their permission. A genuine fan site doesn't run advertising, doesn't take in any revenue whatsoever, and doesn't use it to generate traffic for other sites they own. If you have the intent to take in income from the site, then you are operating a commercial site and are at risk. If you want someone to give you a guess at what the chances are you will be sued, hire an IP attorney and let them review the actual site and name so they can throw you a percentage - which of course means nothing if you piss off the right trademark holder and get sued. Personally, I don't care if the chance was less than 1% - I've paid for hundred thousand dollar lawsuits and know it isn't something I do not want to risk - especially when the chances are about 99% that you lose in such a case and 100% sure you'll lose a boat load of money even if you win. Even if you don't have any money, a judgement can follow you for life, so unless you plan on never having any money or owning anything, you should explore another way of trying to make money and not try to do it riding the goodwill of someone else's property.

 

now i am just wondering why after 10 years and millions of view and some very real brand damage, www.Paypalsucks.com is still live.

 

Sucks sites can be protected under "fair speech" as adding "sucks" removes the likelihood of confusion i.e. the average person isn't likely to believe it is a site operated by the trademark holder. This particular site could be sued as they are running advertising and there are a number of cases where commercial "sucks" sites have lost in court. PayPal probably lets this site exist so there won't be a hundred others popping up if they took action. Ebay took legal action and won against PerfumeBay.com for infringement. Every trademark holder has individual thoughts and some are not aggressive, others sue everyone (like Mattel). Asking a broad question about what will happen is like asking what will happen if you give someone the finger. Most people won't do anything, some might pull a gun and shoot you. There is no absolute right answer on what is the risk of being sued - it all depends on the individual and how they feel at the time. With trademark infringement, you lose money the minute a company files suit against you. You are talking about such large sums of money in legal fees that at point, winning or losing probably isn't even going to matter. A deep pocket trademark holder will win by burying you legal costs. Costs you don't get to recover.

 

k mjewel thx for info.

 

That is so funny. I never even thought of it that way. No... the movie trailer is telling you what kind of audience is suitable to see this film, e.g. kids or adults, is it Hannah Montana or is it a gory horror film?"

 

dude, you have to put things into context here, i am linking to a Youtube video, i am not hosting the video on my site, and that Youtube video was posted by the official channel of the movie studio itself. i don't think i need any permission to link to a trailer, people do that everyday from their blogs, forums, sites and stuff.

 

Technically if you embed video hosted elsewhere that is infringing you've got almost the same issue.