IT Law Video Sharing

Individual Reflection: Raymond

From the research, I have found out that one must be respectful of the privacy rights of people in the video that we upload, if taping the video in a public place, we must ask permission before including bystanders. Moreover, when uploading the video, we must be aware that most video sites have term of services that we must adhere to, most of them prohibit sexually explicit content, gratuitous violence, and videos that are harassing, defamatory, obscene, libelous, hateful, or violating other people’s privacy.

Individual Reflection: Geraldine Chan Li Ting

In this project, I have learnt about the Terms of Service in video sharing sites. Uploading of videos that are not original and do not belong to an individual’s is an infringement of the Copyright Act. The purpose of these video sharing sites is to allow people to share their own videos with others. However, people have been misusing these video sharing sites by sharing videos that do not belong to them. Movies like Ironman which has only been released in the theatres recently, have already been uploaded in video sharing sites such as TuDou and Movie6.net. These movies are uploaded even before the DVD is released. People can be invading one’s privacy if they upload an individual’s video in a site without the person’s consent. This act is unethical and unacceptable. As an IT law and governance student, we have the responsibility to educate these people in order to prevent more copyrighted videos in video sharing sites, and also the ethics of sharing videos.

Individual Reflection: Kenny Wang

Alright. After long hours of doing this project, I’ve learnt a lot of new things. Initially, I thought uploading video on video sharing site would be safe. Posting of movies, dramas or anime can be found in almost every site. BUT, after searching for legal issue on video sharing, I found out that youtube for example has infringed copyright of up to $1billion. I’m relatively shock that a lot of companies are suing video sharing sites for infringement, because I didn’t know it was illegal of doing so.

But after some research, I’ve learnt that is always safe to read up or follow the guidelines regarding safe uploading of videos. We must always prevent copyright infringement, or we might get into trouble.

Individual Reflection: Felicia Seah

After searching for so much information on the internet about video sharing, it has really opened up my eyes and also enriched my knowledge about it. Video sharing has much to look at actually, much more than what we think. It is so broad that we did not really have a clue of where to get started from. Moreover, if you do a web search, there is not a definition for video sharing, what you will get are the lists of numerous video sharing sites. There are so many video sharing sites to choose from but of course the peoples’ choice would be www.youtube.com. I personally do not actually use video sharing sites, however, youtube is something which I know of, even if I do not use it often. Youtube has made such a name for itself that the whole world is using their video sharing services.

I have learnt that uploading a video up on a video sharing site has many factors to consider. We have to make sure that we are not infringing copyright. Furthermore, we have to take note of what we are uploading on the net. So far, cases are all about Youtube getting sued by other companies because of infringement of copyright, it’s a wonder how Youtube has not gone after its users as they are the ones who are uploading the videos.

But video sharing is really brilliant, it connects users from all over the world through the many videos which they have, by culture, interests, music videos etc.

Individual Reflectoin-Maha Lakshmi

I am not a person who does videosharing and blogging however through this project i have gain a indept knowledge about video sharing.Plus i have learnt how to blog too!I am now aware of the various videosharing sites other than youtube.Learning about vidoesharing,i now know the legal ways of upoading a video.I now understand how useful videosharing sites are and to respect the site terms and conditions.I am now aware of legal issues involved in videosharing

I feel that the blog would educate teenagers who are unaware of illegal videosharing and its consequenses.With the constant development of the internet everyone need to know the relevant issues so as not to go against the law. When someone wants to upload the video it is very important to ensure that there is no infringing of copyright act.

Videosharing has open my eyes to how the internet is dramatically evolving and the various legal issues that are going to appear in the future.

Vodcast

Overview of Video Sharing

A video hosting service, also called a video sharing service allows individuals to upload video clips to an Internet website. The video host will then store the video on its server, and show the individual different types of code to allow others to view this video. As many users do not have personal web space, either as a paid service, or through an ISP offering, video hosting services are becoming increasingly popular, especially with the explosion in popularity of blogs, forums, and other interactive pages. The website, mainly used as the video hosting service, is usually called the video sharing website.

The mass market for camera phones has increased the supply of user-generated video. Traditional methods of personal video distribution, such as making a DVD to show to friends at home, are unsuited to the low resolution and high volume of camera phone clips. In contrast, current broadband Internet connections are well suited to serving the quality of video shot on mobile phones. Most people do not own web servers, and this has created demand for user-generated video content hosting, which the likes of YouTube are catering to.

Video sharing has been changing over the years. The first video sharing site that allowed users to upload files in various video file formats and share videos was shareyourworld.com, however its not around anymore. It was started back in 1997 by Chase Norlin, who now heads the very cool video/audio search company Pixsy. Youtube then picked up from where Chase left off, You Tube was founded in a garage in February 2005 and it was officially launched in December 2005.

Some video sharing sites include youtube.com, veohTV.com, crunchyroll.com, imeem.com and Peekvid.com.

List of video sharing site

These are some of the popular video sharing sites:

www.youtube.com

www.veoh.com

www.crunchyroll.com

Online Video Timeline

Image from http://www.reelpopblog.com/2006/09/a_brief_history.html

Chronology of Events

May, 2005
- iTunes offered video.
- ABC considering online video site. The site would go online in May 2006 with three shows available 24 hours after broadcast.
- Nielson to add VOD to TV Ratings

June, 2005
- AOL Video Search debuts
- Slingbox debuts. The Slingbox allows you to watch your home TV on any Internet-enabled device.

July 2005
- AP announced plan for online video network. When this network debuts it will only work on PCs with Internet Explorer.
- Shuttle launch on AOL sets concurrent streams record. It was the first launch in two years.
August 2005
- Flash 8 Debuts. Flash had been roundly credited with spurring the video-sharing phenomenon. - Online TV/video-sharing site Veoh gets pre-launch funding. Veoh became a major online video player in the following year.
- More people are watching shows like Hurricane Katrina on Web than TV, mainly because of the broadband at work.

September 2005
- Yahoo hired Kevin Sites for online show. First of three online shows, the company had since backed away from original content.
- Google streamed Chris Rock show. The previous February Yahoo streamed Fat Actress. In September 2004, AOL aired the WB pilot of Jack and Bobby.
- The BBC began testing its online TV archives.

October 2005
- YouTube had traffic that would double to almost 104 million page views by January.
Apple announced TV shows on iTunes, ABC and Disney Channel shows that are available for only $1.99. 1 million videos were sold in first 12 days.
- Yahoo hired Richard Bangs to do online show, which was cancelled after one year.
- Video-sharing site Revver.com launched with funding, post-roll advertising strategy.
- NBC decided to stream NBC Nightly News in its entirety. NBC's VP of digital media.

November 2005
- Yahoo launched music video service.
- Comedy Central launched Motherload broadband channel.
- CNN Pipeline started private beta, an interesting service that shows 4 unique streams of content.
- TNT launched NBA Overtime broadband channel. NBA launched a free broadband video channel.
- NBC moved Trio to broadband.
- eMarketer said the online video marketplace is set to triple to $640 million by 2007 from $225 million.

December 2005
- iTunes added NBC, SciFi, USA. Meanwhile, Disney said they've had 800k downloads on iTunes so far and agreed to add ABC's Commander in Chief.
- NBC put Meet the Press online.
- Video-sharing company PureVideo got $5.6 million. Company runs stupidvideos.com and grindtv.com.
- Yahoo says they'll create Wow House online show, which morphed into Hook Me Up, which now appears on Yahoo Tech.
- Reuters started syndicating video to Web sites.

January 2006
- Google launched video store, partnered with CBS to sell content. Despite its recent popularity bump, Google Video can't compete with YouTube.
- ABC downloads on iTunes exceed 1.5 million after just 3 months.
- MySpace launched video sharing
- iTunes added MTV content

February 2006
- Disney said it will stream kids programming online
- CBS sold direct with Survivor on CBS.com
- NBC served C&D to YouTube over Lazy Sunday video.
- NBC premieres Conviction on iTunes
- iTunes reached 15 million video downloads
- NBC.com served 9.1 million streams of the Olympics

March 2006
- Associated Press launched video syndication network. Roundly criticized for only making videos work only with Internet Explorer.
- MTV partnered with YouTube. First major content deal for YouTube.
- Scrubbs got onto iTunes.
- First iTunes movie download. A made-for-TV Disney movie is available weeks before the DVD release date.
- YouTube promoted film trailers. Second content promotion for YouTube features Deep Focus film "Scary Movie 4."
- YouTube limits videos to 10 minutes or less to combat piracy. People just start breaking long clips into multiple episodes.

April 2006
- Two television schedule sites, MeeVee and Zap2it, were launched
- Video-sharing and editing site EyeSpot launched
- Discovery Channel launched two broadband channels.
- CNET announced CNET.tv
- NBC and affiliates form Broadband JV
- ABC launched online theatre.

May 2006
- Warner Brothers lets local TV stations put sitcoms on Web.
- Fox finally got with iTunes.
- CBS debuts Innertube. Promotional site eventually recast as online streaming destination for CBS shows.
- MTV planned to simulcast awards show on TV and Web.
- SciFi launched Pulse broadband channel.
- National Lampoon launched broadband channel.
- Warner Brothers sold movies through Bittorrent.
- MySpace offered "24" downloads.
- ABC's online theatre had 3 million views in two weeks.
- Google began selling video ads.
- Yahoo imitated YouTube with the relaunch of video site.

June 2006
- Amazon launched online show "Fishbowl with Bill Maher."
- Tivo offered Web video
- Hoity-toity code.tv launched
- Nielsen to measure TV everywhere
- Fox streams shows on O&O sites
- Carson Daly signs YouTube talent
- OLN launched "The Player" broadband channel
- Warner Bros offered films through Guba
- NBC partnered with YouTube, markets fall lineup shows "The Office" and "Saturday Night Live."
- CBS reached deal with affiliates
- Veoh faced copyright lawsuit

July 2006
- Video-sharing site eefoof launched.
- Bittorrent cozies up with studios to sell content.
- Yahoo launched online show "The 9."
- News service sued YouTube.
- NBC started video blog for Brian Williams.
- CMT and TimeOut NY launched broadband channel
- CNN launched user-generated video upload site CNN Exchange

August 2006
- Unions and advertisers reached a tentative deal. Includes a study to examine alternative models of compensation for commercials that appear on television, radio, and in new media.
- Viacom aquired Atom after buying iFilm a few months earlier.
- OctaneTV broadband channel launched.
- Showtime put Weeds on MSN Video.
- VideoEgg hatched ad plan.
- CBS did an ABC, and will stream shows next day on Innertube.
- Google Video leapfrogs Yahoo Video after link placed on google.com.
- Sony buys video-sharing site Grouper for $65 million.
- YouTube started brand channels, video ads.
- CBS signed cross studio deals for online streaming.
- Yahoo closed down original show Richard Bangs' Adventures after one year.
- CSTV launched 100 broadband channels.
- YouTube hired Yahoo's treasurer.
- CBS simulcast Katie Couric's Evening News online.

General Questions on Copyright Act

1) What is copyright?

Copyright law in Singapore is governed by the Copyright Act ("the Act") and gives the copyright owner the exclusive right to do certain things in relation to a work, such as to reproduce the work, to publish the work or to perform the work in public. The copyright owner also has the right to prevent others from copying the work without his/her consent.

2) What does copyright protect?

Copyright protects the original expression of an idea, and not the ideas themselves. Facts and ideas cannot be copyrighted. An original work is protected as long as there is some amount of intellectual effort, labour and skill involved in its creation. For a "work" to be protected by copyright, the work must fall within one of the established categories of works, such as literary works, musical works, sound recordings or cinematograph films.The source code of computer programs are considered literary works under the Act. The graphic display and layout of computer programs and web pages are considered as compilations, which are also viewed as literary works. Copyright protection is conferred on the web page as a whole. The individual materials found on a web page may have independent copyrights attached to them.

3) What is considered an infringement of copyright?

There will be infringement of copyright if you do something with the work that only the copyright owner has the exclusive right to do. In relation to the right to make a copy of the work, there will be an infringement where a substantial part of the work is copied. There is no infringement if a person independently creates a work, even if that work turns out to be identical to another copyrighted work.It is also a violation of copyright if one for example sells or imports for sale any copyrighted work without the consent of the copyright owner.

4) Who is the owner of the copyright in a work?

Ownership of copyright to a work will belong to the author or creator of the work subject to any other agreement to the contrary. In general, the employer will own the works of an employee under the employment contract if the work was created in the course of employment. Further general information on copyright in Singapore can be found at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore's website at www.ipos.gov.sg.

Copyright Infringement Against a Video Sharing Site

Viacom will sue YouTube for $1bn
Entertainment giant Viacom Media says it will sue web search engine Google and its video-sharing website YouTube for $1bn (£517m).

Viacom, which owns MTV and Nickelodeon, says YouTube uses its shows illegally.
Viacom alleges that about 160,000 unauthorised clips of its programmes have been loaded onto YouTube's site and viewed more than 1.5 billion times.
Google says it is "confident" that YouTube has respected the legal rights of copyright holders.
However the internet search giant saw its shares fall $11.72, or 2.6%.

'Clearly illegal'

As well as more than $1bn in damages, the legal action seeks an injunction to prevent what Viacom calls "massive intentional copyright infringement".

"YouTube's strategy has been to avoid taking proactive steps to curtail the infringement on its site," said Viacom in a statement.

"Their business model, which is based on building traffic and selling advertising off of unlicensed content, is clearly illegal and is in obvious conflict with copyright laws."

Last month, Viacom, which also owns cable networks VH1 and Comedy Central, told YouTube to remove 100,000 "unauthorised" clips.

Viacom said its demand came after YouTube and Google failed to install tools to "filter" the unauthorised video clips following negotiations.

"There is no question that YouTube and Google are continuing to take the fruit of our efforts without permission and destroying enormous value in the process," it said.

"This is value that rightfully belongs to the writers, directors and talent who create it and companies like Viacom that have invested to make possible this innovation and creativity."

For the full article please click here.

Possible Causes of Action

1. Control

Once you upload a video onto video sharing sites, your control over circulation of the video will be extremely limited. In fact, you will often lose control over the video altogether. Users cannot only use the functionalities on the site itself (share, embed and comment on videos) but can also use other software and web tools to download copies of your video, and in extreme cases, edit your video in a manner which may be unpalatable to your organization.

More recently, YouTube developed a new function which allows users to post ‘video comments’ on clips which provides even greater scope for distortion of your original message.

In the Web 2.0 world, the user is king and it is very difficult for organizations to make inroads to restrict access to their material or prevent users from engaging in citizen journalism on third party controlled websites.

2. Contractual issues – Sites Terms of Use

From a legal perspective, it is critical that you consider Terms of Use before uploading your video onto the site.

Terms of Use prohibit any "commercial use" of the site except to generally "promote your business or artistic enterprise". Therefore, use should be avoided for contests which require payment of an entry fee or campaigns which are targeted at promoting commercial blogging or video sharing. Similarly, if you intend to embed your video onto your own website which charges users for access, this may breach the prohibition on commercial use.

Example in YouTube, You should also be aware that the Terms of Use state that all risks and liabilities associated with use of the site rests with the user and YouTube expressly excludes any claims against it for use of your videos or user actions such as comments which cause damage to your organization or could be defamatory.

3. Copyright and Moral Rights

In YouTube, Terms of Use provide that each user grants a license both to YouTube and to all YouTube users to make use of their video submissions including the right to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform your video.

Accordingly, you must ensure that copyright permissions have been secured for all videos and materials which are uploaded onto the site and that these permissions cover all uses contemplated by the Terms of Use. It is also important to consider whether you have the right to sub-license any content which is being used from a third party (for example, where campaigns utilize licensed film or television content which are not owned by your organization) as the Terms of Use require you to grant a license for all content.

If you are sourcing content from a third party, the license between you and the provider should allow you to sub-license your rights to YouTube and YouTube’s users. The license should also make it very clear that the material being licensed may be used on Web 2.0 applications such as YouTube and the duration of the rights granted is sufficient for the life of your campaign. If your advertising agency is securing your content, you should ensure that the copyright and licensing issues have been adequately addressed before you make use of the content.

In some countries like Australia, authors of copyright works and performers have moral rights in their works and performances. Prior to uploading a video, it is critical that you obtain written moral rights consents and waivers from all authors and/or performers who may have rights in the video or underlying works.

4. Monitor and take action

Finally, it is critical that you regularly monitor the presence of your video to ensure that it is not being misused in any way. Whilst there is little you can do to control others’ comments, one option which is always available is to remove your clip. Often the uptake occurs very quickly which means that hourly (or at least daily) monitoring may be required.

http://www.adasiaonline.com/listingsEntry2.asp?ID=849&cid=170&t=articles&PT=articles&PTS=Features&F=articles

Legal Issues Classroom exemption act

Can we legally show videos that are “For Home Use Only”?

Yes, a business, school, Library and other institution can legally share “For Home Use Only” video content if they either meet the conditions set forth in Laws such as the “Classroom Exemption” act, the T.E.A.C.H. act and other related “fair use” doctrines or they may alternatively sign up to a licensing service such as the one offered by the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation or purchase a license from the copyright holder.

Video Sharing Under The “Classroom Exemption” Act

In general if all of the following conditions of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, Section 110 (1) and subsequent amendments including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act also known as the “classroom exemption” are met, then it may be permissible to show and share across multi-classrooms a “For Home Use Only” VHS videotape or DVD video disc in a U.S. classroom or school library without obtaining permission from the copyright owner. To be safe however it is best to contact the copyright holder to ensure you have the right to share their copyrighted works.

In general, as a minimum, the following rules must be met to share videos:
1. An instructor must be present during the showing of the video,
2. The video is used in the course of face-to-face* instruction,
3. No duplication of videotapes is permitted, 4. No admission / fee can be charged.

According to the House of Representatives Report No. 94-1476 sharing the video across multi-classrooms is permissible as long as the broadcast does not leave the school grounds. The Report states, "...as long as the instructor and pupils are in the same building or general area, the exemption would extend to the use of devices for amplifying or reproducing sound and for projecting visual images."

Other Restrictions
Videos that are available in digital form are not exempted

The T.E.A.C.H. act allows for limited sections of analog videos to be converted to a digital format if all requirements of the T.E.A.C.H. Act are met and only if no digital versions of the video are available from the video content copyright owner. In addition, copyrighted digitally formatted videos that are shared across a digital network and are used primarily for mediated instructional activities are also not exempted by the TEACH Act.

Distributing Videos outside a single building have additional restrictions. Distributing videos outside a single building are governed by Section 110(2) of the Copyright Act, and should be reviewed carefully to ensure you meet the requirements of the law.

The Motion Picture Licensing Corporation (MPLC) is an independent copyright licensing service exclusively authorized by major Hollywood motion picture studios and independent producers to grant Licenses to non-profit groups, businesses and government organizations for the public performances of home VHS videotapes and DVD videodiscs. You may obtain more information about the MPLC licensing program at http://www.mplc.com/.

Video Publisher Licenses

Alternatively you may also obtain the copyright owner’s written permission to share the video. For example Disney will sell you a one-time license for $25 per video that allows you to share many of it's entertainment videos.

http://www.axonix.com/Supervue/Legal.aspx
United States Copyright Office Circular 21; Sections 107, 108 and 110 of the Copyright Act (1976) and subsequent amendments, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia.

Why must obey the LAW??

Many people have pursued the hobby of downloading movies and songs on the Internet and sharing them with their friends and family online. However, this is direct violation of copyright laws. Not surprisingly, the biggest violators of the movie copyright laws are students. The movie industry is sending out copyright infringement claims to college universities around the country.

One reason that college students may be the hardest hit is that they are not aware of how serious a crime copyright infringement is. However, with the rise of claims, no one can claim ignorance for much longer. Word is being spread near and far that if you engage in illegal downloading and/or sharing, then you can be brought to court. College students are learning the hard way that it is against the law and in violation of copyright laws to share or download copyrighted material.

The movie and music industries have stepped in and are demanding restitution for illegally downloaded movies, music and other forms of copyrighted media. They have detection agencies that have the technology to identify and trace copyright infringements straight to their source. Once the computer is located they can notify the university or the college that they are in violation. The university will be told that they have a copyright infringement claim against them. Based on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, once the computer is isolated, then Internet access is terminated to that computer and court proceedings can begin.

You should know that a few years ago Recording Industry Association of America sued four students. These students attended Princeton, Michigan Technical University and Rensselear Polytechnic Institute. One student had an estimated liability of $150 billion. When you consider that you can be charged $750 per song that you illegally download, the total can add up fast!

Movies and music are meant to be enjoyed. However, illegally downloading movies and music is not much different than walking into a video store and stealing DVDs and CDs. Be careful. You do not want to be caught violating any movie copyright laws.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/13777/legal_matters/why_you_must_obey_movie_copyright_laws_in_the_digital_age.html

10 Safety tips for Video Sharing

1. Tough to take back. Whatever you post is basically permanent. Even if it is deleted later, there is a chance that it has been copied, forwarded or reposted. Plus there are Web archives that hang on to content even after it has been taken down.

2. What the background reveals. Review what is in the scene that is recorded: posters, photos, school, address signs or car license-plate numbers all can reveal your identity or location. Not forgetting what you say too.

3. 'You are what you wear.' Think about what your appearance "says" about you, and if you will feel comfortable showing this video to your boss or employer, a relative or your family.

4. Respecting others' privacy. Be respectful of the privacy rights of people in your video. If taping in a public place, be sure to ask permission before including bystanders, and never take video of children without their parents’ permission.

5. Everybody's a videographer. Don’t think someone needs a video camera to record video. Cell phones and still cameras are also now video recorders.

6. Be a good citizen. It’s your right to express your point of view but don’t be mean or nasty. You can be held legally responsible if you slander, libel or defame someone.

7. Respect terms of use. Most video sites have terms of service that you must adhere to. Most of them prohibit sexually explicit content, gratuitous violence, and videos that are harassing, defamatory, obscene, libelous, hateful, or violating other people's privacy. Most responsible sites report videos depicting child exploitation and threatening or illegal acts.

8. Respect copyrights. All reputable video-sharing sites prohibit the unauthorized use of copyrighted material. This means you can not upload TV shows or movies.

9. Avoid video bullying. Creating a video that makes fun of or ridicules another person can be extremely hurtful. This and other forms of cyberbullying are a growing problem on the Internet which affects many children and teens.

10. Kids' Web video viewing. Even though most of the major sites prohibit pornography and gratuitous violence, there are videos that are not suitable for younger children and some sites do not permit video that may be inappropriate for children or teens.

http://www.connectsafely.org/safety-tips/safety-tips/top-10-safety-tips-for-video-sharing.html

Understanding Video-Sharing Sites' Terms of Service

Video-sharing sites have exploded in popularity, offering nonprofit organizations a quick and easy way to get their video content in front of millions of viewers around the world. And although most of the Web's video-sharing sites won't charge to host your nonprofit's clips, are these services truly risk-free?

For instance, once you upload your new activist video to a sharing site, do you still own the rights to it? Will the site that hosts your organization's video divulge your personal information and identity if required by law? And will creating an account at a video-sharing service lead to a deluge of spam in your inbox?

The answers to these sorts of questions can usually be found in a site's terms of service (TOS) and privacy policy, legally binding agreements that disclose a Web site or online service's ground rules. In general, TOS agreements explain what rules and standards of conduct a site's visitors must follow. When you sign up for an account at a video-sharing site, you'll usually be required to read the TOS agreement and check a box indicating your agreement with the terms before you can use the site or service.

Licensing Terms
- Who owns my video?
- Can the site repurpose or alter my video?
- Can i attach a Creative Commons License to my video?

Privacy Terms
- Will the site hand over my personal information if required by law?
- Will the site record my IP address
- Will the site send me unsolicited emails?

Content Guidelines
- What kind of content am i prohibited to post?
- Can i remove my video at any time?

Miscellaneous Terms
- Will the site displays ads around my video?
- Will the site allow me to use my video to raise funds?

To find out about TOS, you can go to techsoup for all the informatiom.

Thanks to:
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_hosting_service
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_sharing_websites
• http://ezinearticles.com/?History-and-Detailed-Overview-of-Googles-YouTube-Video-Sharing&id=757432
• http://www.beet.tv/2007/07/first-video-sha.html