Youtube Theft - Whats the Deal/Laws Around Stealing Other Peoples Youtube Videos?

31 replies
I have seen this a fair few times now, people stealing other peoples Youtube videos and posting them on their own channel.

Take this for example:


This video is stolen from this channel:

http://www.youtube.com/upandoverit

Obviously he didnt make the video because of the water tags, but he still have 10,000+ views on the video (the original has 2m+) with a link down the bottom to his site (obviously an IM).

What's the deal here? Is he allowed to do this?

Seems like an easy way to get a decent amount of Youtube traffic for viral stuff.
#deal or laws #peoples #stealing #theft #videos #youtube
  • Profile picture of the author dezfutak
    Well, regardless of whether or not it's legal, it's against the TOS of YouTube, and also it's just one of the many short-term & short-sighted shortcuts that some IM'ers do in order to make a quick sale.

    Even if the video isn't removed as a result of a complaint from the original author, it just means the IM'er has to hide his/her true identity to avoid being considered a loser or "seedy" by proper businesses...

    So, IMO, it's not something worth doing.

    Dez.
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  • Profile picture of the author woodymcgrath
    Isn't it copyright infringements?
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  • Profile picture of the author warriormaiden
    I don't know if there is such things as stealing videos.. depends right? if you're marketing your product and somebody grab that video, then maybe you can click abuse button and youtube can block the user.
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  • Profile picture of the author defaultuser
    You run the risk of getting flagged so it's never a good idea.

    But technically you can do this if the author undervalues the content enough that they don't report the video being copied.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bruce Wedding
      Originally Posted by defaultuser View Post

      You run the risk of getting flagged so it's never a good idea.

      But technically you can do this if the author undervalues the content enough that they don't report the video being copied.
      Wow!

      Technically, you can murder someone if their friends and family don't value their life enough to report it, right?
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      • Profile picture of the author Eko Ventures
        Originally Posted by Bruce Wedding View Post

        Wow!

        Technically, you can murder someone if their friends and family don't value their life enough to report it, right?
        Technically? Yes.

        Technically you would have a much higher chance of getting away with it too - that doesn't make it right by any means.

        There is a big difference between what is allowed and what can be done. If I had to bet on it, I would say the majority of top viewed videos on YouTube have countless identical copies on other people's accounts - most of which I bet never asked the OP if they could re-upload the video; most of which I bet will never be removed.

        Unless somebody cares enough about having their video re-uploaded - they aren't going to report it. If it's never reported, no action will ever be taken against the copy - unless of course it infringes on a major copyright.

        I by no means support this type of behavior, it's against the ToS and is effectively plagiarism/lazyness. But the fact of the matter is it happens, and it happens a lot - I frankly don't see this ever changing; it's the nature of YouTube.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    Terms of Service (5)(b) states:

    Content is provided to you AS IS. You may access Content for your information and personal use solely as intended through the provided functionality of the Service and as permitted under these Terms of Service. You shall not download any Content unless you see a “download” or similar link displayed by YouTube on the Service for that Content. You shall not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, or otherwise exploit any Content for any other purposes without the prior written consent of YouTube or the respective licensors of the Content. YouTube and its licensors reserve all rights not expressly granted in and to the Service and the Content.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fallen_Angel
    If it has obvious copyright info youtube will inform you and not allow that video in partner program. If owner complains about it they will remove video from you.
    Youtube usually suspends your account temporarily before they actually ban you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Palusko
    I believe that if you post a video on youtube, you agree that anyone can embed it on their websites. Kind of like syndication of articles on article directories. However, videos posted on youtube must be original work and you need to be the copyright owner. In this case, it clearly is not so.
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    • Profile picture of the author paul wolfe
      Originally Posted by Palusko View Post

      I believe that if you post a video on youtube, you agree that anyone can embed it on their websites. Kind of like syndication of articles on article directories. However, videos posted on youtube must be original work and you need to be the copyright owner. In this case, it clearly is not so.

      That's nearly right.

      If you upload a video on YouTube you have the option to enable or disable the embed code - the default setting is having it enabled, very few people disable it.

      That means that anyone can come along and grab the embed code and paste the video on their sites or blogs. But although the video appears on their site - it will reference back to your original video and nothing will have been changed on your original video. (In fact, every embedded video gives you the chance to click through and watch on yoUTube - anyone who does that goes straight to your channel).

      What has happened here though is someone has downloaded or screen captured a video from somebody else's YouTube channel and then loaded it to their own channel. And as you correctly state, they are clearly not the owners of it and have violated the original copyright.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    Other marketers may in fact do this to get traffic if they are desperate. They will hide their identity and then promote their own product as an affiliate to further conceal their true identity.

    Pretty lame if you ask me...
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    • Profile picture of the author Shannon Herod
      If you upload the video to YouTube it is fair game because anything you upload can be used for derivative works.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Cadaverous
    it's okay if you're not profitiing by the video. This is the Copyright law:

    Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

    So as long as you're not making money from it, it's fine.
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    • Profile picture of the author wtatlas
      Originally Posted by Matt Cadaverous View Post

      it's okay if you're not profitiing by the video. This is the Copyright law:

      Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

      So as long as you're not making money from it, it's fine.
      I don't think this is the whole story. Fair use is usually limited to taking a small section of a copyrighted work, say a few sentences from a book or report, for review or comment, etc., not the whole shebang.
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      • Profile picture of the author BizWebMan
        The easiest and most ethical way of doing this isn't just taking a straight lift and copying a video and using as your own, but to create your own using some of the original.

        BEFORE you do just email the original creator and 99% of the time you will get permission to use the material.

        Other video makers love being told you like their video and rarely mind if you used some it for yourself especially if you include an attribution.
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        • Profile picture of the author bengirwb
          It might be too late in the game to combat this.
          The popularity of the term "mash up" means taking someone else's work, salt and pepper with something else, and ending up with an "original" work you post as your own.
          Then there's the rise of web sites that aggregate videos. The "aggregate" site throws ads on the site and sometimes on the videos themselves.
          Now I see sites that urge you to upload your favorite videos (not YOUR videos) from YouTube, etc, and they will split the ad revenue with the poster (not the original creator).
          We help create the growing problem with copyright infringement when we gladly give YouTube and other sites the right to reuse and/or change our material, or sell it to TV or other folks, with the creators cut out of monetary benefits.
          As long as we fall all over ourselves to give our work away, we're just crying in our beer.
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  • Profile picture of the author mysterrio
    When I do a video in the description I start with http: my website - yada yada. Also, you can able and dis able using the features in yahoo and even make your video private.

    So - yea, I would say copywrite could play a part as would youtubes terms of service. BUT - I would say - If I borrow your video and do not change it - it may be a legal question.

    For example: You write a dog training video and your link is there on the tail end of the video. If I put that video on my page which sells dog products and do not change your video - did I violate any laws?

    NOW: If the AG in any state (etc) says I am confusing the customer....AHHH The headaches!

    I don't know if any of this was that case here however.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Baker
      Originally Posted by Shannon Herod View Post

      If you upload the video to YouTube it is fair game because anything you upload can be used for derivative works.
      Originally Posted by Matt Cadaverous View Post

      it's okay if you're not profitiing by the video. This is the Copyright law:

      Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

      So as long as you're not making money from it, it's fine.
      You guys obviously didn't read the whole thread and skimmed over it which most of use hate. The reason I can tell is if you had read post #8 from Mark you will see that you CANNOT take someone else's video and then upload it on your on account.
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      • Profile picture of the author bengirwb
        OK. If it's against the law to drive through a red light, then that's the end of my worry. I can drive through an intersection on a green light with my eyes closed. There's no way someone would break the law and hit me.
        YouTube does insist that vidoes you load on THEIR sit must be your own. But YouTube is not going to chase around the internet to see if an aggregator site is using YouTube videos.
        If you want to protect your copyright, you must do your own legwork to find the bad guys.
        The PROBLEM is in the form of "mash ups" which I have seen on YouTube that combines someone else's stuff with your own into an "ORIGINAL" video.
        The big, big problem is becoming the aggregators. Sites that solicit the funniest videos you have seen on YouTube and other sites. You take that material (not your own stuff) and put it on an aggregator and then take a piece of the ad revenue.
        It's up to the original creator to do Google searches for their videos and uncover where they have been posted without your consent.
        YouTube is not involved because it has your original work with your permission.
        As I wrote earlier, as long as we throw out our work to YouTube and other sites and given them blanket permission to use, edit, etc., our work, then we're just crying in our beer about losing control of our creations.
        But then, as someone else said, this would be against YouTube and copyright law. So I guess we really can sleep well at night.
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Baker
          Originally Posted by bengirwb View Post

          OK. If it's against the law to drive through a red light, then that's the end of my worry. I can drive through an intersection on a green light with my eyes closed. There's no way someone would break the law and hit me.
          YouTube does insist that vidoes you load on THEIR sit must be your own. But YouTube is not going to chase around the internet to see if an aggregator site is using YouTube videos.
          If you want to protect your copyright, you must do your own legwork to find the bad guys.
          The PROBLEM is in the form of "mash ups" which I have seen on YouTube that combines someone else's stuff with your own into an "ORIGINAL" video.
          The big, big problem is becoming the aggregators. Sites that solicit the funniest videos you have seen on YouTube and other sites. You take that material (not your own stuff) and put it on an aggregator and then take a piece of the ad revenue.
          It's up to the original creator to do Google searches for their videos and uncover where they have been posted without your consent.
          YouTube is not involved because it has your original work with your permission.
          As I wrote earlier, as long as we throw out our work to YouTube and other sites and given them blanket permission to use, edit, etc., our work, then we're just crying in our beer about losing control of our creations.
          But then, as someone else said, this would be against YouTube and copyright law. So I guess we really can sleep well at night.
          You've missed the point of the OP. This is about downloading videos from YouTube and without doing any editing to it, uploading the same video to your own YouTube account.
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  • Profile picture of the author bengirwb
    I should add that there are ways to make your YouTube videos less attractive to thiefs.
    Put your brand throughout the video, even comments, links to your site, etc.
    But "less attractive" doesn't mean your video is padlocked.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    MAN! If I created youtube, I would have a checksum of some pages AND, if a video were uploaded with a checksum matching another's account, I would compare the video. If large sections matched, I would flag it to be looked at by a person. If they found original stuff substantially copied, like here, the second video would be DELETED!

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author fawnfoto
    Oh well Im not allowed to Post Links so Look up youtube user runwiththewild to get a Link to sign a petition to STOP YOUTUBE THEFT
    CharlieO The Praying Parrot Google it
    Kathleen Chute
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  • Profile picture of the author fantasticjackson
    can you embed someone elses video to make money
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    Glad you guys are reviving old topics just to get your post count up. FYI, there are plenty of new topics to comment on...before you start your spamming...
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    • Profile picture of the author Janice Sperry
      Originally Posted by J Bold View Post

      Glad you guys are reviving old topics just to get your post count up. FYI, there are plenty of new topics to comment on...before you start your spamming...
      I guess this gets revived every two years or so. :confused:
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  • Profile picture of the author Noel Cunningham
    I never actually new the answer to this...always "presumed" it didn't matter a great deal since the original poster uploaded it and wouldn't care if somebody else shared it around...

    Learn something new everyday.
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  • Profile picture of the author Foxer
    I just watched several sports clips videos where the person who uploaded the video may have "created" the video, but he used other peoples footage, such as the NCAA and foreign television. They have ads before all of these videos.

    Yes the poster technically created his own video, so that probably satisfies YouTube's T.O.S., but how can he get paid on material that is probably a copyright infringement? (or if is public domain if he has been reposted ad naseum)
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  • Profile picture of the author David Mcalorum
    I'd say its the responsibility of the video owner.
    And even any person just cruising youtube.
    You should flag such videos.
    Otherwise, YT does have a system in place where
    it can detect duplicate videos by noticing the
    first 10 seconds of the clip. But most people just
    cut out the first 10 seconds and post it anyways.

    So, yeah. If you see one of these, just report it
    and move on.
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