Are YouTube video's public property?

12 replies
I have received an email from someone threatening to sue me if I don't remove a video from my site.

I have WPRobot loaded and it has pulled a video from YouTube which this person is saying he will sue me for invasion of privacy if I don't remove it.

This was the title:

I will have you sued if you don't comply
This was his message:

Hello I am going to only state this once. take the video off that includes me or i will be forced to sue you for invasion of privacy for nobody ever asked me ever to be recorded.
Am I legally obliged to remove it?
#property #public #video #youtube
  • Profile picture of the author Jay Jennings
    I'm not familiar with WPRobot -- is the video hosted on YouTube? If so, tell the guy to take a hike. If you're hosting it, and it's not yours, take it down.

    Not legal advice, just common sense advice.

    Jay Jennings
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  • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
    I'd say that person needs to be contacting You Tube or the
    person who uploaded the video in the first place.

    Meanwhile, is that particular video important to you? If not,
    why get yourself in the middle of something that could turn
    out to be a pain in the butt?

    I'd send them back an email telling them to contact YT
    and the other person... I'd then take the video off my site.

    Life's too short to waste time allowing other people
    to make their problems your problems.

    Tsnyder
    Signature
    If you knew what I know you'd be doing what I do...
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    • Profile picture of the author mistyone
      Originally Posted by Tsnyder View Post

      I'd say that person needs to be contacting You Tube or the
      person who uploaded the video in the first place.

      Meanwhile, is that particular video important to you? If not,
      why get yourself in the middle of something that could turn
      out to be a pain in the butt?

      I'd send them back an email telling them to contact YT
      and the other person... I'd then take the video off my site.

      Life's too short to waste time allowing other people
      to make their problems your problems.

      Tsnyder
      No the video isn't important to me and I had had exactly the same thoughts as you that he should be contacting YouTube.

      I must admit though, I actually don't like the way this person has approached this matter with me and I feel his threatening manner is offensive.

      The video in question is the first one on this page:
      http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...rch_type=&aq=f

      It was pulled using the keyword "Man Boobs"

      You can't actually see the person in question.
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by mistyone View Post

        No the video isn't important to me and I had had exactly the same thoughts as you that he should be contacting YouTube.

        I must admit though, I actually don't like the way this person has approached this matter with me and I feel his threatening manner is offensive.

        The video in question is the first one on this page:
        YouTube - funny fat man dances uno

        It was pulled using the keyword "Man Boobs"

        You can't actually see the person in question.
        Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer. I have done some reading in the area and formed my conclusion based on comments by actual lawyers.

        If the video was recorded in a public place (like a park or beach) and the individual is not personally identifiable, he has no grounds based on permission to record him. Further, if his appearance in the recording is coincidental, as in a crowd shot, he has no grounds.

        I went and viewed the video in question. While the guy is not personally identifiable, he is indeed the subject of that particular clip. In addition, it looks like it may have been recorded in a private setting. If he did choose to file something, it would likely come down to which side the judge came down on. Not something I'd gamble on...

        I'd just take it down and advise him to pursue it with YouTube.
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  • Profile picture of the author DB Curtiss
    It appears to me that this sounds like the individual complaining did not sign a talent release statement. Depending on where his likeness was shot he may or may not have a leg to stand on... against whoever uploaded the video.

    However if he is serious, his lawyer may cast a wide net and threaten anyone who extends the viewing audience. Don't take this as legal advice. But the reason I even respond to this is because I worked in tv production for years.
    Not having valid signed talent release forms can end up being costly if someone has a bone to pick.
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  • Profile picture of the author MoneyWarrior
    I'm agree with you DB Curtiss
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  • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
    I'm not sure what your site is about, but if you are promoting a product about man boobs, and he stumbled across your site, discovering this video of himself, he was probably shocked, embarrassed, and angry.

    His anger is misdirected obviously, but you should comply.

    You might even reply to him how the video was automatically pulled from YouTube without your interaction, and give him these two links to help him out:

    Privacy complaints : Safety Center - YouTube Help

    Contact Us - YouTube Help

    It will let him see what his rights are, and where he can work to have the video removed from YouTube.
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    • Profile picture of the author mistyone
      Originally Posted by KansasDragon View Post

      I'm not sure what your site is about, but if you are promoting a product about man boobs, and he stumbled across your site, discovering this video of himself, he was probably shocked, embarrassed, and angry.

      His anger is misdirected obviously, but you should comply.

      You might even reply to him how the video was automatically pulled from YouTube without your interaction, and give him these two links to help him out:

      Privacy complaints : Safety Center - YouTube Help

      Contact Us - YouTube Help

      It will let him see what his rights are, and where he can work to have the video removed from YouTube.
      Thanks for your response. You have provided some good information.

      I have sent him a reply to his email, suggesting he contacts YouTube and I also explained that the video was pulled using the keyword "man boobs" I also explained that since he had brought the video to my attention, that I had viewed it and it didn't fit in with my site and for that reason I was removing it, not because he was threatening me

      Looking at my stats, he found my site searching for the title of the video, so he already knew about it.
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  • Profile picture of the author danielmcclure
    Not legal advice etc:

    If a video appears on YouTube with the ability to embed it within a website then the uploader has authorised it for distribution via that channel. If the uploader has used your copyrighted material or footage of you uploaded by somebody else then you have the ability to contact YouTube through their "Flag" feature and request that it is removed.

    Just a couple of days ago somebody was using some of my content and my likeness to promote their website so I contacted YouTube and had it removed in less than a day. The dispute channel is typically between the infringed person, YouTube and the original uploader and should not extend to those who have simply discovered the video and embedded it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brian Tayler
    Reminded me of numa numa
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  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    Hey Mistyone,

    Thanks for raising this here, it's an issue which many people don't consider when using automated tools. The same thing happens when pulling in content using rss feeds etc, where people are sharing content (theirs or someone elses) and forget that they're also giving access to it to others with the technology they're using.

    Youtube is a classic example because despite their terms of use, you can see clips of television footage which the uploader obviously doesn't have any rights to. Sometimes they'll put some little attribution on it thinking that they have then avoided the fact that they shouldn't be using it and I'm sure situations like yours happen all the time.

    The easy answer is - if you're using someone elses content and don't have a license to backup your use - if someone requests you take it down, just do it. It's so easy to accidentally end up using content in a way that upsets someone.

    I was testing some new autoblogging tools last year and just randomly picked some keywords to put in the tool and when I went back to one of the test blogs a few weeks later there were 20 insulting comments waiting for moderation from someone whose content had been found by the tool through their rss feed. They obviously thought it had been personally targeted and although they'd sent several offensive messages already, the lack of response had started them on a hate campaign of posting an offensive comment to every post on the blog. Not that any of them got published because they needed moderating first, but it's amazing how people get advised "use wordpress - it's the best way to build a site" and "promote your rss feeds" and then have a nervous breakdown when their content gets picked up.

    Obviously in that situation I had no interest in their content and it was randomly selected by the tool, so as soon as I saw their harrassing messages I just deleted all of the posts, but it could equally have been youtube videos as the same tool would also look for those and use them.

    So - while these tools are great for grabbing relevant content and building your online properties - it's also easy to use content that people don't want used.

    So - if you do decide to use tools that may grab other peoples stuff, just make sure you have an easy way to deal with removing it if they suddenly think something bad is happening and get offended.

    In reality, usually when this is happening their traffic will increase because the tools still link back to their original content, but if they're struggling and not making sales they'll probably decided it's your fault.

    Andy
    Signature

    nothing to see here.

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