Comments on: YouTube, your tube?

By: Al

Al — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 03:57:13 +0000

YouTube is developing an overall nasty bureaucracy. I spent many hours building-up a list of favourites. I didn't join because I don't have the ability to post stuff. Today when I went to look at my favourites, instead of the usual screen I just got a join-up page. My favourites have all gone. All that work just gone. No warning. No niceness. Just a new nasty bureaucracy. They are rapidly developing into a big nasty organisation.

By: vaspers the grate vlog giant

vaspers the grate vlog giant — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 23:28:03 +0000

Ajju is correct. It seems to me that YouTube is either getting paid for its work, or it's protecting its legal butt.

Ajju is correct to point out that, well, how can YouTube verify that the poster/uploader truly "owns" copyright on all material contained in a video?

I use my own self-created computer music as background in most of my executive and CEO training films, which I upload to YouTube, then post on my own flagship Vaspers blog.

To say YT vids are just teenage junk, well, that's what player haters still say about blogs, pods, wifi, vlogs, and text messaging.

By: hubert gertis

hubert gertis — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 02:17:56 +0000

Seems like they*re trying to eat the cake and have it, too: you cannot claim to be protected by te “online service provider safe harbors” of the DMCA and at the same time claiming a “sublicenseable and transferable” license for all uploaded content.
But maybe we all should re-read the TOS of our web hosters …

By: chase norlin

chase norlin — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 14:59:04 +0000

this issue has been around for almost a decade now. the only reason someone like john has noticed it is because youtube is on so many radars that every aspect of their business is now under the microscope.

this stipulation in their TOS is critical to their longterm success as it means they "own" the rights to redistribute, thus creating an ever-growing archive of material.

By: Ajju

Ajju — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:34:26 +0000

On the other hand YouTube may not get as much out of this as they may be expecting. There’s no way for them to be sure that the uploader’s claim of ownership of the content is legitimate. Therefore it would be a huge risk for them to actually sell or distribute this content to/via someone in another form.

By: M

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 05:45:17 +0000

My bigger question about YouTube and copyright – while the uploader assigns a license by doing so, what if that material is copyrighted? For example, I take a home video of Barry Bonds hitting a home run and then post to YouTube. Technically that is the copyright of Major League Baseball…

By: Eric Goldman

Eric Goldman — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 04:15:49 +0000

It’s inaccurate and misleading to characterize this language as YouTube claiming “ownership.” Admittedly, it’s a very broad license. However, under IP laws, there are significant legal differences between ownership and a non-exclusive license. Eric.

By: numlock

numlock — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 03:20:07 +0000

Does the average user care about ownership? Hell no.

YouTube is a dumping ground for sharing stuff that people forget about the next day, the only people who actually worry about/read the Terms and Conditions aren't likely to be using YouTube to host their own content anyhow.

By: aTypical Joe

aTypical Joe — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 03:06:44 +0000

The key phrase following the one you cite: “The foregoing license granted by you terminates once you remove or delete a User Submission from the YouTube Website.”

YouTube’s done incredible things. The bear in the woods here is the content cartel and copyright. I’m not so sure the blossoming collaborative community video sites can beat that back the way I just have to hope YouTube – riding its wave of acceptance – might.

By: Pete Nicely

Pete Nicely — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 03:05:06 +0000

This is a very normal condition for content sharing sites. I think MySpace even owns the content in your personal messages.

But I think YouTube's mistake is having to do it now when the light is bright on them. More on my blog.