Viacom is suing YouTube(Google) for copywrite infractions involving the airing of uploaded videos on YouTube's site. Viacom says, "YouTube was intentionally built on infringement and there are countless internal YouTube communications demonstrating that YouTube's founders and its employees intended to profit from that infringement." Actually this is an interesting lawsuit, in the fact that Viacom employees were intentionally uploading videos onto the site. Viacom was uploading these videos to promote their movies and television shows. This is a legal test for who is responsible for the content on a website.
As of this minute, the law states that you are responsible for all the information (postings) on your website or webpage. For instance Facebook, Facebook wouldn't necessarily be held liable for each individual webpage on its service. In that case, you would be liable for any and all postings on "your" site. People don't realize that anything that you post on your MySpace, Twitter, or Facebook, is memorialized forever and you can't necessarily take it back. You could be sued for either slander or libel.
Viacom is asking YouTube(Google) to remove all of the illegal (pirated) videos posted on the YouTube site, even the ones that Viacom itself posted. I do not agree with Viacom in this matter. Not only did they post themselves, but they also received a benefit from the postings on YouTube. I believe they (YouTube) should not be able to post these videos beyond a certain date. They should not have to decipher the videos, and who posted them, from the past. I have included a blog that has many different opinions.
I had no idea that this was going on, which is really interesting to see what people are trying to sue other people over, who would have thought that people would be creating lawsuits over onine videos, i agree that they should not be able to put up videos that do not belong to them, due to the legality of owning a video.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting what people will sue each other about in general. I didn't know that they were working to restrict the videos that are put up. I have noticed that sometimes when i search and click on a video from tv it isn't up there anymore. I wish that they would come up with a legal place where things like skits from snl could be put up. I don't know, maybe there is a place and I just don't know.
ReplyDeleteYoutube has faced nothing but criticism from major television companies. NBC, being one of the more well known companies, had a big problem with Youtube showing clips from shows like SNL and others so they went and created Hulu. Hulu is a website created for the purpose of controlling where people see clips from shows on NBC and other networks. The television industry is slowly becoming like the music industry with everybody stealing it for others to use online
ReplyDeleteI understand that people shouldn't post videos that they don't own the rights to, but I can't help but feel that in many cases, these posted videos act as free advertisement for the original owners. These videos act as word of mouth and often get people interested in seeing the real clip on TV or to buy the DVD or album. It also creates another market for advertisers that can advertise on these youtube accounts. In general, I feel like youtube is an advertiser's dream.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed over the past few years, many of my favorite shows and full movies being removed from Youtube. I have since then realized that it is a direct result of lawsuits like this, that is taking them off the site. I understand both sides of the argument, although some of Viacom's moves, depicted in this blog seem a little unethical, because they had posted items on Youtube similar to what they now want taken off. At the end of the day decisions like these are all about money and neither Viacom or Google wants to lose any of it.
ReplyDeleteI dont think that youtube should remove all the pirated videos uploaded on to youtube. If they have such a big problem with pirating viacom better start looking for the movie share websites that are out there.
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