post to web without surrendering copyright at DVinfo.net

Chris Gorman · April 2nd, 2009, 09:47 PM

Is there any site that hosts video where I can have complete control over copyright? When I read the TOS for vimeo I get lost in the ambiguity.

For some of my videos, I have permission to show them as demos of my work, but do not have the right to sell it or hand it over to someone else who might sell it, edit it, re-purpose or whatever.

Is there any way to accomplish this and post online? Please comment with any suggestions, suggested hosting sites. Thanks : )

Tripp Woelfel · April 3rd, 2009, 06:55 AM

I'll post some videos on Vimeo fully aware that I am effectively surrendering my rights to them. I've done some investigation of alternative video hosting sites and they all seem to do the same thing. I think it's what they get in exchange for putting your video online.

I think the only way to do it is host it on your own site, but I'd love to hear of a site with quality at least equal to Vimeo where you don't sign your rights away.

Seth Bloombaum · April 3rd, 2009, 11:08 AM

Speaking from my experience, and I am not a lawyer...

As I understand the host's justification for the TOS on copyright, they say that they need a license from you for them to distribute your work.

Depending on the TOS, if it is sufficiently narrowly worded, you aren't surrendering your rights, you're telling the hosting co. that you have sufficient rights to the material to grant distribution rights.

On the other hand, some TOS are written broadly, to cover as above, and to grant permission to do other things with your property.

If you remain "lost in the ambiguity" of terms of service you should seek more information if you're concerned, even legal advice. Don't sign anything you don't understand, especially with your clients' property...

Nigel Barker · May 12th, 2009, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tripp Woelfel

I'll post some videos on Vimeo fully aware that I am effectively surrendering my rights to them. I've done some investigation of alternative video hosting sites and they all seem to do the same thing. I think it's what they get in exchange for putting your video online.

I think the only way to do it is host it on your own site, but I'd love to hear of a site with quality at least equal to Vimeo where you don't sign your rights away.

SmugMug Photo Sharing. Your photos look better here. It's not free but it's not expensive either ($60 or $150 per year depending on package). They started off as a service for professional stills photographers & have added video more recently so given that background you absolutely do retain complete control over copyright. They can host your whole site as you can heavily customise the look of your pages but you can also embed videos hosted on SmugMug onto other sites. We did a lot of research & even tried hosting the video on our own site but this solution using SmugMug is easily the best that we have found. I believe that they are also the only site to offer hosting of 1920x1080p Full HD video (if you have a good enough network connection to actually view at this resolution).

Cheers

Nigel

Ken Campbell · May 14th, 2009, 01:02 AM

I'm also no lawyer (and damn proud of that fact!), but reading the TOS for Vimeo submissions doesn't scare me too much. You give them a non-exclusive right to your material, meaning you still retain full rights to your material minus the rights you granted to Vimeo. Now vimeo can legally do what they have to do to your video to make it visible on Vimeo. They can also use your video to make money.

What we should be more afraid of is the general public, who has the possibility to gain access to your material from Vimeo and YouTube and do whatever they want with it without respect for your copyrights.

Josh Bass · May 14th, 2009, 03:11 AM

As for the general public, putting a transparent watermark on the whole video, in such a way that it can't be cropped out, might be the way to go. Yeah, it's ugly, but if you're worried about theft. . .

I did this in the corner of one of the videos I have on youtube. I wish I'd centered it on the video and made it huge and very light/transparent, but oh well.

Paul R Johnson · May 14th, 2009, 04:34 AM

I find it ironic that when we pay for, and download audio we get hassle, and if the kids download for free they get the possibility of a criminal record and damages - yet when we wish to allow people to see our work, people need to grab the rights? Something just isn't right here, is it?

Ken Campbell · May 14th, 2009, 11:53 PM

I actually am not worried about theft or my copyrights when I put a video on the web via YouTube or Vimeo. I look at it, and use it, like free advertising. We live in an age of piracy, plagiarism, and general disrespect for eack other and our rights. Because of that, I think of YouTube more like something in the public domain and would never publish commerically viable material there, watermarked or otherwise.

One thing I do know about copyright law is that while we have a right to our original works, the government has no obligation to police those rights. That is our job. On a venue like the web, very few have the time and resources to actively police and protect their copyrights. Maybe that is why I only put material I want freely available in the public domain on the web. Commercially viable material stays under lock and key until it is sold.

April 2nd, 2009, 09:47 PM	#1
Chris Gorman Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: oceanside, california, u.s.a. Posts: 115	post to web without surrendering copyright Is there any site that hosts video where I can have complete control over copyright? When I read the TOS for vimeo I get lost in the ambiguity. For some of my videos, I have permission to show them as demos of my work, but do not have the right to sell it or hand it over to someone else who might sell it, edit it, re-purpose or whatever. Is there any way to accomplish this and post online? Please comment with any suggestions, suggested hosting sites. Thanks : ) __________________ List My Threads

May 14th, 2009, 03:11 AM	#6
Josh Bass Slash Rules! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 5,472	As for the general public, putting a transparent watermark on the whole video, in such a way that it can't be cropped out, might be the way to go. Yeah, it's ugly, but if you're worried about theft. . . I did this in the corner of one of the videos I have on youtube. I wish I'd centered it on the video and made it huge and very light/transparent, but oh well. __________________ The Bass' camerawork The Bass on IMDB

April 3rd, 2009, 06:55 AM	#2
Tripp Woelfel Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Conway, NH Posts: 1,745	I'll post some videos on Vimeo fully aware that I am effectively surrendering my rights to them. I've done some investigation of alternative video hosting sites and they all seem to do the same thing. I think it's what they get in exchange for putting your video online. I think the only way to do it is host it on your own site, but I'd love to hear of a site with quality at least equal to Vimeo where you don't sign your rights away.

April 3rd, 2009, 11:08 AM	#3
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	Speaking from my experience, and I am not a lawyer... As I understand the host's justification for the TOS on copyright, they say that they need a license from you for them to distribute your work. Depending on the TOS, if it is sufficiently narrowly worded, you aren't surrendering your rights, you're telling the hosting co. that you have sufficient rights to the material to grant distribution rights. On the other hand, some TOS are written broadly, to cover as above, and to grant permission to do other things with your property. If you remain "lost in the ambiguity" of terms of service you should seek more information if you're concerned, even legal advice. Don't sign anything you don't understand, especially with your clients' property...

May 14th, 2009, 01:02 AM	#5
Ken Campbell Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Milan, Italy Posts: 140	I'm also no lawyer (and damn proud of that fact!), but reading the TOS for Vimeo submissions doesn't scare me too much. You give them a non-exclusive right to your material, meaning you still retain full rights to your material minus the rights you granted to Vimeo. Now vimeo can legally do what they have to do to your video to make it visible on Vimeo. They can also use your video to make money. What we should be more afraid of is the general public, who has the possibility to gain access to your material from Vimeo and YouTube and do whatever they want with it without respect for your copyrights.

May 14th, 2009, 04:34 AM	#7
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	I find it ironic that when we pay for, and download audio we get hassle, and if the kids download for free they get the possibility of a criminal record and damages - yet when we wish to allow people to see our work, people need to grab the rights? Something just isn't right here, is it?

May 14th, 2009, 11:53 PM	#8
Ken Campbell Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Milan, Italy Posts: 140	I actually am not worried about theft or my copyrights when I put a video on the web via YouTube or Vimeo. I look at it, and use it, like free advertising. We live in an age of piracy, plagiarism, and general disrespect for eack other and our rights. Because of that, I think of YouTube more like something in the public domain and would never publish commerically viable material there, watermarked or otherwise. One thing I do know about copyright law is that while we have a right to our original works, the government has no obligation to police those rights. That is our job. On a venue like the web, very few have the time and resources to actively police and protect their copyrights. Maybe that is why I only put material I want freely available in the public domain on the web. Commercially viable material stays under lock and key until it is sold.