Hey all, Quick question. I run a teen website and I was thinking of adding a section featuring popular music artists. Would it be illegal for me to embed music videos from youtube and other major video streaming sites onto my website? And on a side note, are embedding TV shows legal or illegal?
Yes! I used to run a website which embedded youtube tv shows and had it shut down and received letters from trading standards
It seems like it would be legal, if you are worried get some offshore hosting and you'll be really safe
The companies would go after youtube since they are hosting the video, you are just linking to it on your site.
It's not illegal since you're not hosting it. You're just taking content of off YouTube which is legal.
I know for a fact that it is illegal since trading standards and FACT shut down my website which was embedding youtube videos. I used to think it was legal since I wasn't hosting content but making copyright material available on your site is illegal and is why my site was shut down
Embedding YouTube videos is legal as long as the video hosted on YouTube is not violating copyright. Most TV shows on YouTube are infringing. It is illegal to embed infringing material. The fact that you are not hosting it does not matter. See the Grokster case and the various torrent cases to see that this is the case. Grokster did not host illegal files but was still found guuilty of copyright infringement. Often, a DMCA takedown would be sent to YouTube first, but not always. There are several reasons this may be. First, the copyright holder may not understand what a YouTube embedded video is. Second, they can't successfully sue YouTube (only send a DMCA) but they could sue you. When you embed a video it is a direct action and means your site does not get the same safe harbor protections as a site like YouTube does. Offshore hosting does not make you safe. In fact, to a court it is a beacon saying, "I knew what I was doing was illegal and tried to circumvent the law by hosting offshore." It matters where you are, not your host. This does not apply to all countries, but in the US and much of the UK (as well as other countries) linking to or embedding infringing material is illegal. Now whether you will actually be sued or just receive a takedown notice really depends on who you pissed off. It is not likely you would be sued, but not impossible. I'm sure those students that got sued by the RIAA for downloading mp3s never thought they would get sued, but they did.
I'd think it's more a legal grey area...well unless you make a profit from posting the content, then not so legal.
Look at Sidereel and TIOTI. They link to copyrighted tv shows and are funded by VC firms. I'd think that those VC firms did their due legal dilligence.
All you have to do is read the youtube tos and it will soon become apparent that embedding copyright material will leave you liable to legal prosecution.
VC firms backed Napster. VC firms backed Grokster. Both were hit with massive fines and legal troubles. Just because people have money doesn't mean they are smart or understand the law.
I m also using! Fan site Videos from YOUTUBE! they are not copyrighted but using it simply with a courtesy of Youtube