Why would I get in trouble when taking someone else’s videos, photos or music and put it on my website but facebook and co. won't? I mean, there are so many copyright infractions on pinterest, twitter etc. What’s the trick that they can get away with it?
1st of google result : --------------------------------- What Is Fair Use? In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. In other words, fair use is a defense against a claim of copyright infringement. If your use qualifies as a fair use, then it would not be considered an infringement. So what is a “transformative” use? If this definition seems ambiguous or vague, be aware that millions of dollars in legal fees have been spent attempting to define what qualifies as a fair use. There are no hard-and-fast rules, only general guidelines and varied court decisions, because the judges and lawmakers who created the fair use exception did not want to limit its definition. Like free speech, they wanted it to have an expansive meaning that could be open to interpretation. more >>
First let me say that I am well aware of what “fair use” stands for. But that’s exactly what these people are not doing. They are not using e.g. pictures to criticize, to do a parody and there is nothing limited nor transformative. They are just making collections, using them to decorate their page etc. So all they do is copy/paste. Not adding any kind of “value” to it. If I translate this it would mean I can take the whole world and paste it into my pages. And I know I cannot do that. So there has to be something more behind it.......
Answers above are not correct. As service providers these websites are not responsible for the content their users upload and/or make available through their platforms unless the owner of the intellectual property which is being made illegally available contacts them to inform them of the situation. In Europe there is the EUCD and in the US - DMCA, which both protect the service provider and provide guidance for copyright owners on how to properly request content takedowns. Now, depending on the internal procedures that each service provider follows, users or customers that are found to repeatedly upload copyrighted content may receive a permanent ban, or may simply have their content removed with no further actions taken against them. But it all starts with the copyright owner(s) requesting the takedown properly, which they often don't do. With all of the above in mind, it's important to understand when sharing of copyrighted content might be completely legal, even if you don't own any copyrights over it. One such example is when such content, while still effectively being the intellectual property of it's owner(s), has been made publicly available/accessible by them without demands for compensation and without terms of use which forbid redistribution of this content. In that case you are simply linking to or redistributing something that is already out there, accessible by everyone. This is not illegal. However, unlike service providers you are solely responsible for the content you upload or share. As such you would not be able to claim that you did not know what you have been uploading/sharing if the copyright owner prohibits this activity. That's pretty much all to it.
Yep; really dumb and bad advice above.... NOTHING to do with fair use. Look up the 'safe harbor' provisions of the DMCA ... that is what protects sites like Facebook etc. https://www.google.com/search?q='safe+harbor'+provisions+of+the+DMCA
LOL. He's not asking why FB, Twitter, etc. can get away with copyrighted content posted on their sites. You guys can't read. He's asking: why is he going to get in trouble if he posts copyrighted stuff on his own site and won't if he posts the same copyrighted material on social media? The real answer is he STILL can get in trouble if he posts copyrighted material on social media outlets. Thousands of videos, images, texts are taken down every single day from social media sites for copyright violations. The problem with social media is it's almost impossible, in some cases, to track down the violators. That's why the majority of copyrighted videos, images, etc. are still on them. The only way you can use copyrighted materials on your own site if you ensure it falls under fair use. An example: Using 10 seconds of someone's 10 minute video is probably fair use, using the entire video is not. And of course you can ask for permission to use copyrighted materials (which is probably a better way to go about it).
Of course he is. Its the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA is the reason that he can get in trouble and Facebook et al don't get in trouble!!!