Siy explained his views in a follow-up email: “For example, if my local TV partner aired a counterfeit copy of a TV show and I watched it at home, I certainly wouldn`t be responsible. The idea of copy traps could come into play if I had (even innocently) recorded the show or made a DVR. As Professor Snow describes, the fact that the end user thought they were participating in a legal purchase is irrelevant. All that matters is that she copied (downloaded) a copyrighted work that was not sold by legitimate means. This user can be held liable up to $750 per song. If you are lucky enough to get permission from a studio, sign a license agreement to use the clip. Sherwin Siy, a lawyer with Public Knowledge, told me that my fears on YouTube may have been exaggerated. Siy points out a difference between downloading a video and streaming. He told me that “arguing that a buffer copy (for a streaming view) is a duplication is even harder (fighting), and the potential rewards may not be worth the legal fees.” He added that “simply watching a video on your screen, whether authorized or not, is not a violation unless you make or copy it publicly.” YouTube has quietly started offering a selection of movies for free as long as you`re willing to go through a few ads. If a user visits YouTube and searches for “Bill Maher”, they will see a large number of results – some of them for official content uploaded by HBO, and the vast majority of them for copyrighted content illegally uploaded by other users. Professor Snow gives the following example: a user visits Google and searches for the name of a group they like.

One of the first results leads them to a website called “legal-music-downloads.com”. Once there, the user hands over their credit card and pays $0.99 per song to this unknown website. Now imagine that “legal-music-downloads.com” is actually a fraudulent website run by a few guys in Eastern Europe. They download files from BitTorrent and then illegally resell them to US consumers. Bad News Warning: ☹Requests to use video clips are routinely denied, so it`s important that you plan a lot and submit the clips you want early AND make sure you have backup plans. While YouTube can`t provide legal defense for everyone, we remain vigilant when it comes to removal notifications that affect all creators. You may be aware of notable instances where we`ve asked copyright owners to reconsider takedowns and restore fair use videos. For example, only use scenes you find on movieclips.com. This site contains studio-approved video clips that encourage you to “find, watch, and share your little heart… You can check everything or send everything on this site for free and out of fear to your employees. (Our Movie Clip Monday blogs come almost entirely from this site.) Now you can watch movies on YouTube legally and without paying a dime. YouTube added its first ad-supported free movies in October 2018 without releasing it. However, you can find the current excerpt in the “Free to Watch” category.

I wondered if I could use an excerpt from a movie to show a joke I wanted to say. Will I have copyright strikes or get into trouble? Or is it safe to use? Try to understand what “fair use” really means, what you can and cannot do. Simply sharing a video clip that copies an unchanged movie without editing has no transformative value. Sharing a video to share a joke from the movie has no value as a review, commentary, teaching, etc. In short, the intended use is unlikely to be considered fair dealing. Rohit Dhawan, director of product management at YouTube, told AdAge: “We saw this opportunity because of user demand, which went beyond just offering paid movies. Can we make ad-supported films that are free for the user? This is also a good opportunity for advertisers. YouTube did not disclose the terms of any agreements it has made to offer these films for free. However, it can be assumed that YouTube and the studios share the revenue generated by the ads. And if enough people are watching, the selection could grow over time. There you go!! Now you can use these famous video clips in your videos and really make your videos stand out.

Fair use is really just a legal defense in the United States. Such a thing doesn`t really exist in other jurisdictions, especially in civil jurisdictions where moral rights must be respected – which includes the right to object to the falsification of a work in certain circumstances. I would suggest submitting requests for multiple clips at once that have a similar effect, so if one is denied, the other could be approved. Article 10 of the Berne Convention mentions some acceptable uses of the text, but for video clips, it is up to each nation to decide. In all cases, the author of the work must be named (including moral rights). Copyright Infringement in the United States Strict Liability. This means that users are liable if they copy works illegally, even if they don`t know it`s fake or that the work is protected by copyright. I used Greenlightrights.com and found that they already had relationships with the movie studios, which makes the investigative process easier. According to a strict interpretation of copyright laws and discussions with legal experts, users could be unknowingly held liable if they click on the wrong YouTube link. The fact that they do not know that a video has been downloaded illegally is irrelevant. All that matters is that they clicked on a link and watched the video.