I need permission from Carly Simon to put a video on YouTube I shot on a BlackBerry!!

Jon Fairhurst · May 26th, 2011, 12:49 PM

It's not just copyright that we have to be concerned with. There are also defamation lawsuits.

Yesterday, I spoke with a guy from a well-established cable network that had created a documentary. Somebody mailed a VHS tape of the doc to a woman who was not well portrayed in the story. That was three months before it aired. The morning that the piece was set to air in prime time, the woman and her lawyer called the network...

They ended up patching her and her lawyer into the edit suite. As they were airing 15-minute segments, the editing was going on at the same time to pull the bits that she found unacceptable.

The thing is, she didn't have this "right." But she had the right to sue. And the network had interest in avoiding the lawsuit even if they were within their rights.

Fair use is similar. You might have fair use rights. (Yes, there are rights.) But you may still be sued and required to defend those rights. Unless you are really solid on your position and have a legal fund to defend that position, it's best to avoid other people's content, unless you have a license or release form signed and dated.

John MacPherson · May 26th, 2011, 04:51 PM

Various quoted bits from Cameron Poole: "I hope this doesn't sound bad but I have never subscribed to 'the law'......You have to bend the rules a little bit to get on in this life........ I'm a decent bloke and most of it comes naturally to me, you know - not stealing,.........If I was greedy, I would have lots of money and I would subscribe to this ridiculously strict copyright nonsense......I don't expect everybody to agree with me but to fill three pages I must have a valid point. " end quotes

No sir just because this thread you started has generated so many pages of comment DOES NOT mean you "have a valid point". Far from it. You are so wide of the mark that a lot of your beliefs would be laughable were they not so depressing.

You seem rather confused about this whole issue and would do well to give yourself some basic education on the subject of copyright, and the reason why its important. And particularly so if commenting in a site like this where people actually earn their living from their creative ability and, quite rightly, get paid for it, and have an absolute right (moral and legal) to have that creativity protected.

You proclaim you're happy "to bend the rules....to get on in this life" and then try to tell us that really you're "a decent bloke" and being a decent bloke involves "not stealing".

Using copyright material without permission IS stealing. Its that simple, whether loads of folks 'get away with it on YouTube' is irrelevant, you got caught, and ignorance is not innocence in the eyes of the law.

My stills work is ripped off regularly - eg I'm currently chasing a case of 84 unauthorized uses of my images in a single commercial website, and another instance where 400 uses of my images occurred in another commercial website which I used the DMCA to deal with. I'd be less angry if the users were actually as ignorant as you, but they're not, because both (mis)users of my images are in businesses where they actually generate copyrighted material themselves and have clearly and in big letters proclaimed that their own work is copyright and protected.

There's a whole lot of things I could describe their actions as, and yours too, but I'll settle for 'unacceptable' as sufficient.

Chris Hurd · May 26th, 2011, 04:53 PM

At this point we're pretty much done with this discussion. Thanks to everyone who participated.

May 26th, 2011, 12:49 PM	#61
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	Re: I need permission from Carly Simon to put a video on YouTube I shot on a BlackBer It's not just copyright that we have to be concerned with. There are also defamation lawsuits. Yesterday, I spoke with a guy from a well-established cable network that had created a documentary. Somebody mailed a VHS tape of the doc to a woman who was not well portrayed in the story. That was three months before it aired. The morning that the piece was set to air in prime time, the woman and her lawyer called the network... They ended up patching her and her lawyer into the edit suite. As they were airing 15-minute segments, the editing was going on at the same time to pull the bits that she found unacceptable. The thing is, she didn't have this "right." But she had the right to sue. And the network had interest in avoiding the lawsuit even if they were within their rights. Fair use is similar. You might have fair use rights. (Yes, there are rights.) But you may still be sued and required to defend those rights. Unless you are really solid on your position and have a legal fund to defend that position, it's best to avoid other people's content, unless you have a license or release form signed and dated. __________________ Jon Fairhurst

May 26th, 2011, 04:51 PM	#62
John MacPherson New Boot Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Scottish highlands Posts: 20	Re: I need permission from Carly Simon to put a video on YouTube I shot on a BlackBer Various quoted bits from Cameron Poole: "I hope this doesn't sound bad but I have never subscribed to 'the law'......You have to bend the rules a little bit to get on in this life........ I'm a decent bloke and most of it comes naturally to me, you know - not stealing,.........If I was greedy, I would have lots of money and I would subscribe to this ridiculously strict copyright nonsense......I don't expect everybody to agree with me but to fill three pages I must have a valid point. " end quotes No sir just because this thread you started has generated so many pages of comment DOES NOT mean you "have a valid point". Far from it. You are so wide of the mark that a lot of your beliefs would be laughable were they not so depressing. You seem rather confused about this whole issue and would do well to give yourself some basic education on the subject of copyright, and the reason why its important. And particularly so if commenting in a site like this where people actually earn their living from their creative ability and, quite rightly, get paid for it, and have an absolute right (moral and legal) to have that creativity protected. You proclaim you're happy "to bend the rules....to get on in this life" and then try to tell us that really you're "a decent bloke" and being a decent bloke involves "not stealing". Using copyright material without permission IS stealing. Its that simple, whether loads of folks 'get away with it on YouTube' is irrelevant, you got caught, and ignorance is not innocence in the eyes of the law. My stills work is ripped off regularly - eg I'm currently chasing a case of 84 unauthorized uses of my images in a single commercial website, and another instance where 400 uses of my images occurred in another commercial website which I used the DMCA to deal with. I'd be less angry if the users were actually as ignorant as you, but they're not, because both (mis)users of my images are in businesses where they actually generate copyrighted material themselves and have clearly and in big letters proclaimed that their own work is copyright and protected. There's a whole lot of things I could describe their actions as, and yours too, but I'll settle for 'unacceptable' as sufficient.

May 26th, 2011, 04:53 PM	#63
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,366 Images: 513	Re: I need permission from Carly Simon to put a video on YouTube I shot on a BlackBer At this point we're pretty much done with this discussion. Thanks to everyone who participated. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!