Man Infringes His Own Copyright, Viacom Says

From the Catch-44 Dept.
Posted by kdawson on Thursday August 30, Slashdot Media.

Chris Knight writes "I ran for school board where I live this past fall and created some TV commercials including one with a "Star Wars" theme.



A few months ago VH1 grabbed the commercial from YouTube and featured it in a segment of its show 'Web Junk 2.0.'

Neither VH1 or its parent company Viacom told me they were doing this or asked my permission to use it, but I didn't mind it if they did. I thought that Aries Spears's commentary about it was pretty hilarious, so I posted a clip of VH1's segment on YouTube so that I could put it on my blog.

I just got an e-mail from YouTube saying that the video has been pulled because Viacom is claiming that I'm violating its copyright. Viacom used my video without permission on their commercial television show, and now says that I am infringing on their copyright for showing the clip of the work that Viacom made in violation of my own copyright!"

Voice your opinion on Slashdot or on Chris's blog!

Cybercast credit: YouTube

Keep This Video!

This had to happen ... and it did. Rip ... NO, keep this video ... save this video ... even share this video, courtesy of KeepVid. Its motto: "Want it? Keep it." says it all.




Why should web video be different than music, movies, tv shows, or anything else traversing the net??? Now we can rip off / keep / burn "user-generated" content too. Yes, that's your and my masterpieces (of sorts). And I don't mean book burning. That happens too, even today, to famous authors. So don't feel bad.

Might be a good time to brush up on copyrights and what you can do with the Creative Commons license, I reckon. Do you?

Do You Root For Grassroots Media?

That's where the action is going. You must get familiar with Ourmedia if that's where you are headed too.

What do they offer? A lot, like:

* Publishing and storing video, audio, manuscripts, and other media that you create
* Sharing your own and discovering others' independent media.
* Learning how to create citizens' media - that is, yours
* Sharing: RSS feeds, email to a friend, direct link to files from your own site or blog
* FREE storage, sharing & bandwidth forever
* NO ADS!

Downside (as it is):

* Requires an Internet Archive account too
* Slow to upload and view during most of the day
* Keeps your content in its native format. Both good and bad. It doesn't recompress your video - good, but requires viewers to have several different media players installed (not so good)

The Learning Center

My favorite is the Learning Center, which has everything you'd ever want to know about user-created citizens' media. With all the hoopla about copyrights, illegal downloading, Viacom vs. YouTube (see previous post), you DO want to know about your options. One of the best is the Creative Commons license, at work all over the site itself, making it very easy to grasp the concept as well as its execution. Nearly all contributions are shared that way, so other sites can republish bits and pieces from this open-source learning project.

So what can we learn about copyright and the law?

How about:

* Fair use in the digital age
* Online libel and defamation
* What is Creative Commons?
* Filmmakers' best practices in fair use
* Documentary filmmakers, fair use and 'free use'
* Legal issues in creating your podcast
* Release waivers - there is a link to forms
* Terms of Service comparison for video hosting sites
* Publishing public performances

Listen to Lauren Gelman, associate director of Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society, as she discusses copyright, fair use, and grassroots media. (You need a media player that works with industry standard MPEG-4 video, to watch.)

Lauren Gelman on copyright and personal media

Viacom Demands That YouTube Yank 100,000 Clips

Comedy Central's and MTV's daddy, the mighty Viacom henceforth demands that your favorite Tube yank all of its video clips, after negotiations failed. About 100,000 video clips are to be erased from You Know Who Google Tube's servers.

Viacom says its pirated programs on YouTube generate about 1.2 billion video streams. You read it right - we talk BILLIONS here. But don't you think that's the reason for Viacom to be so PISSED OFF. NOoooo Sireee! What they are REALLY ticked off about is the irreverence some YouTubers display - literally - by mocking their fabled logo. See for yourself - here is the "Viacom V of Doom" from just one of the MANY offenders, Doom (811 Productions):


You'd be steamed up about a sacrilege like that at your corporate logo, wouldn't you?

To be fair, YouTube has not been without controversy, as clips from copyright protected TV programs, shows, and other legally protected media have made their way onto their site. That, however, didn't seem to bother other major media companies, such as CBS and Universal Music Group. They went ahead and struck distribution agreements with YouTube prior to its love-in with Google. Go figure....

P.S. Didn't take long for Google, after having come into existence only nine years ago in 1998, to be slapped with a billion dollar suit too ... by Viacom, of course!