I'm sure we all have seen these sites. They claim to say to their users not to upload anything that infringes on copyrighted works, but they never remove it willingly after they "review" your submissions. Anyway I was working with this kid on his video site, just helping him with some automation scripts to get things done faster instead of manually making things by hand like creating thumbnail images. http://www.top30tvshows.com And so the deal was he was to pay me for the scripts I made for him, and the dude screws me over and not only blocks me out the site but continues using my scripts even though he never paid me! Pretty messed up. Anyway, my thoughts are how illegal is it to run these type of sites. I can get one running in 3 days. I figured I can't work with em so might as well do it on my own right?
Yes, I would not recommend it as it is against terms. I would recommend offshore hosting if you are using movie sites.
Ah, but here is the trick. Your not hosting anything. All you do is simply embed videos from other websites like you would youtube. And even further, just linking to sites that provide these embed codes. The question really is it illegal to just link to illegal content is the question.
Yes it is illegal to link to it. It is YOUR site. It is also illegal to embed and broadcast on your site. It is a violation of US Copyright law.
Yes. It's illegal to host copyrighted material. And instead of trying to outbeat his site, just report it for having illegal content. Or something like that. Next time, ask for the money upfront.
Right, what I usually tell people is something like this. Is it legal to show child porn? No, so is it legal to "link to" or "embed" child porn, No again. It is the same concept. People seem to think linking to illegal stuff is not illegal in it's self. If you are an AdSense user and feel it is unfair that there are people like this person making a profit illegally with it, then please report them at the following link: https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/request.py?contact=violation_report
exactly. just like selling stolen property...you might not have stolen it, but you are still INVOLVED in the crime