YouTube Sued: It's A Riot.On July 14, 2006, a news gathering and reporting organization filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. alleging that YouTube, Inc., a Web-based video hosting company, has infringed and continues to infringe on the small news organization's copyrights.1 Given the facts and issues involved in the dispute, the lawsuit could set the stage for a showdown between legal fair use and free unauthorized use. Created in 2005, YouTube provides an on-line community for those interested in sharing original videos where users can upload their home videos directly to YouTube's servers. Although there are more than 100 Web-based video-hosting companies, YouTube leads the market uploading 50 million videos per day to more than 12.5 million people monthly.2 Plaintiff Robert "Bob" Tur is owner and operator of the Los Angeles News Service ("LANS LANS Local Area Network Server (Cisco) LANS Landelijk Actieplatform voor Nationalistische Studenten LANS Leadership Alliance National Symposium LANS Los Angeles AFB Network Support (DOD) "). LANS licenses and sells news video, videotapes, photographs, etc. used by other news companies for all media.3 Tur's complaint alleges that YouTube intends to promote infringement of copyrighted works because (1) it makes an effort to attract former Grokster video sharers whom have had a reputation for copyright infringement Noun 1. copyright infringement - a violation of the rights secured by a copyright infringement of copyright plagiarisation, plagiarization, piracy, plagiarism - the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own , (2) its Web site lacks a mechanism to curtail activity that violates copyright law, and (3) it seeks high-volume use which corresponds to greater incidences of copyright infringement.4 FairTube Let's assume that YouTube responds by saying that its Web site service consists of non-commercial activity and that it has never acted in a manner that would result in copyright violation. As such, YouTube will point out that its activities qualify as "fair use" and place it neatly within the safe harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. provision of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law which implements two 1996 WIPO treaties. It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services that are used to measures that control access to copyrighted works (commonly (DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) A U.S. law enacted in late 1998 that provides penalties for developing hardware or software that overrides copy protection schemes for digital media. ). Section 512(c) of the DMCA relaxes the liability of service providers for infringing material on web sites hosted on their systems and applies to storage at the user's direction.5 The first condition under Section 512(c) is the provider must not have the "requisite level of knowledge" of the infringing activity. The second condition mandates that the service provider not receive a financial benefit directly attributable to the infringing activity. The last condition establishes proper notification and removal protocol commonly known as the "notice and takedown Takedown 1. The price at which underwriters obtain securities to be offered to the public. 2. The portion of securities that each investment banker will distribute in a secondary or initial pubic offering. Notes: 1. " procedure. Next assume that there is a determination that YouTube does not have the minimum knowledge threshold, does not profit from the home-made video clips per se, and that it complies with the notice and take down requirement. Would this mean that the shared information on YouTube's Web site qualifies as "fair use" and does not infringe on anyone's copyrights? Tur does not think so. He says that within LANS' library of more than 10,000 hours of copyrightable audiovisual works are videos like the first-on-the-scene footage of the 1994 O.J. Simpson freeway chase and the Reginald Denny Reginald Denny may refer to:
Lessons from Grokster/NoTube In MGM MGM in full Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. U.S. corporation and film studio. It was formed when the film distributor Marcus Loew, who bought Metro Pictures in 1920, merged it with the Goldwyn production company in 1924 and with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1925. Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., the U.S. Supreme Court held that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties9 Grokster, distributed software that allowed peer-to-peer file sharing Copying files from one computer to another. See peer-to-peer network, file sharing protocol and file and printer sharing. without the need for central servers. Because it was alleged/claimed that the software was distributed with the principal, if not exclusive, object of promoting its use to infringe copyright laws, Grokster could be liable for contributory infringement Contributory infringement may refer to:
Tur states in his complaint that YouTube has made efforts to corner the market occupied by former Grokster video sharers.11 Tur contends that even though YouTube derives a significant amount of revenue developing world-class data centers, it has failed to develop a mechanism to prevent infringing activity.12 Tur alleges that, unlike its predecessors, YouTube provides the computer servers that facilitate direct video uploading to YouTube's servers, where anyone can view or download the videos.13 Lastly, Tur contends that YouTube's advertising-centered business model is correlated with a system that rewards high-volume, which in turn fosters infringing activity. Ultimately, Tur alleges that YouTube's business model and the steps taken by YouTube to enable user friendly video uploading allows it to have actual knowledge of infringing activity.14 SmartTube Tur's suit revolves around YouTube having actual knowledge of copyright violations, which, if found to be true could disqualify To deprive of eligibility or render unfit; to disable or incapacitate. To be disqualified is to be stripped of legal capacity. A wife would be disqualified as a juror in her husband's trial for murder due to the nature of their relationship. YouTube from using the DMCA's safe harbor provision and expose it to liability. Tur claims that YouTube's actual knowledge of infringing activity is evidenced through its courting of the "new clip culture," whose members are familiar with sharing digitized audiovisual media.15 YouTube, allegedly, is aware that it has "morphed and grown" into the "leading video entertainment destination" on the Web resulting in large amounts of both copyrighted and non-copyrighted material being viewed and uploaded.16 This is the first lawsuit against YouTube alleging copyright infringement. However, this is not the first time that YouTube has been accused of copyright infringement. Earlier this year, NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. sent a cease and desist Cease and desist (also called C & D) is a legal term used primarily in the United States which essentially means "to halt" or "to end" an action ("cease") and to refrain from doing it again in the future ("desist"). letter to YouTube following YouTube's broadcast of a popular Saturday Night Skit. YouTube immediately pulled the clip at the request of NBC, and the situation was resolved without litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. . In the instant case, YouTube claims that Tur never asked YouTube to remove the footage in question prior to filing his suit. LaterTube It would be a daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin task for YouTube to ascertain which, if any, of the millions of clips on its website are infringing copyright laws. A cursory review of YouTube's website demonstrates that it is a storage house for obscure home videos and familiar television broadcasts. A random search of the site can turn up clips from CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. 60 Minutes interviews; a home video of two lovers kissing; home videos of people ranting and commenting about various contemporary issues; vacation videos; and numerous salacious sa·la·cious adj. 1. Appealing to or stimulating sexual desire; lascivious. 2. Lustful; bawdy. [From Latin sal music videos from today's pop stars. In addition to being entertaining, YouTube provides its users with a forum to share their footage, ideas and artistic creativity. In the YouTube litigation, the Court must decide if a site that provides a forum for a true diversity of political discourse, unique opportunities for artistic and cultural development, and myriad avenues for intellectual activity and recognition should be chilled or shut down in order to protect the rights of copyright holders. Footnotes 1 Robert Tur v. You Tube, Inc., No. CV06-4436 (C.D. Cal.) 2 Id. 3 See Tur, at paragraph 8. 4 Id. at paragraph 20. 5 The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998, 17 U.S.C. s.512. 6 Id. 7 Id. 8 Id at paragraph 14. 9 See MGM Studios. 10 Id. 11 Id at paragraph 20 12 Id. 13 Id at paragraph 19. 14 Id at paragraph 15. 15 See Tur, at paragraph 14. 16 Id at paragraph 18. The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. Ms Rene Saucedo Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold 801 South Figueroa Street Figueroa Street is a street in Los Angeles County, California. It runs in a north/south direction for a length of more than 30 miles (48 km) between the Los Angeles communities of Eagle Rock and Wilmington. 18th Floor Los Angeles CA 90017 UNITED STATES Tel: 4157817900 Fax: 4157812635 E-mail: marketing@sdma.com URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. : www.sdma.com Click Here for related articles (c) Mondaq Ltd, 2006 - Tel. +44 (0)20 8544 8300 - http://www.mondaq.com |
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