Youtube Vs Major Entertainment Industries

[Besttechie]

Wrote this article for my Law class and decided to publish it on my blog like I do most of my other papers.

http://www.besttechie.net/2009/03/24/youtu...-exist-youtube/

What do you guys think? Can fair use exist on YouTube or even the Internet? I think it can, it's just going to take a while for these major corporations to realize the revolution around them. That revelation will most likely occur when smart people from my generation enter the work force.

PS: Nothing against any older people out there.

B

[JDoors]

I wasn't aware of the background and current problems, thanks for the thorough explanation.

Actually though, I think it's working out EXACTLY as it should. Most people used the opportunity to post videos the way it was intended, and some just stole content. Finding a way to fix it is happening, what more can you do? The suggestion to have a person make each and every decision from the outset is simply unrealistic (considering the volume of posted videos).

As for changing agreements over time, I imagine Warner, for example, saw no harm at first, then as the volume of videos increased they saw an increasing number of infringements and had to either act or risk giving up their rights to the material. Exactly what you would expect to happen. I just don't see any controversy. A lot of ticked off posters maybe, but many of them ARE in the wrong.

If we're going to imply it has something to do with age, I would say that that younger work force has little understanding of copyrights or no respect for it. Once THEY become part of the workforce and possibly have content of THEIR OWN they wish to protect, they may very well change their tune (so to speak).

[Besttechie]

I wasn't aware of the background and current problems, thanks for the thorough explanation.

Actually though, I think it's working out EXACTLY as it should. Most people used the opportunity to post videos the way it was intended, and some just stole content. Finding a way to fix it is happening, what more can you do? The suggestion to have a person make each and every decision from the outset is simply unrealistic (considering the volume of posted videos).

As for changing agreements over time, I imagine Warner, for example, saw no harm at first, then as the volume of videos increased they saw an increasing number of infringements and had to either act or risk giving up their rights to the material. Exactly what you would expect to happen. I just don't see any controversy. A lot of ticked off posters maybe, but many of them ARE in the wrong.

If we're going to imply it has something to do with age, I would say that that younger work force has little understanding of copyrights or no respect for it. Once THEY become part of the workforce and possibly have content of THEIR OWN they wish to protect, they may very well change their tune (so to speak).

JDoors, I completely agree with you.

My statement on age was more or less tongue and cheek, but, nonetheless, coming from a family where both my parents are lawyers (my mom was a corporate lawyer and my dad is an IP lawyer - which deals with copyrights/trademarks/patents) I fully understand the complexity of this situation.

The problem I was pointing out was that the current systems / detection methods are flawed and that serious works needs to go into developing them further to better them.

As for being a content owner and creator myself, I definitely see and understand the idea of protecting works whether it be music, movies, tv, pictures, or even articles. I know that I would be quite upset if someone used my work in a way that I deemed infringement and would most likely take action if I saw benefit in doing so.

That being said, I feel fair use is important and should not be sacrificed or limited because of lousy detection systems.

B

[JDoors]

I'm not sure I'd say the system is "flawed" as much as it's immature. In fact, can't that be said of the entire entertainment industry? Changes have been occurring WAY too fast for corporations to keep up, with their lawyers and inertia and business climate. The Sony DRM thing was simply Sony trying SOMETHING to "cope" with changing distribution (that is, stealing). Nobody knows what to do!

Glad you mentioned your reasons for having a particularly accute insight into the issue as a few hours after I posted I thought about exactly that: What if someone was stealing YOUR content from your various websites? If someone just cut & paste your articles, for example. But you beat me to it.

However, if someone was doing that, what COULD you do about it? Is there any help from technology? That's what everyone's trying right now, resorting to technology, and that technology is immature (hence blocking ALL content whether it's infringing or not).

I'd say give it time, but changes are STILL arriving faster than technology can keep up with it. By the time they have software than can differentiate between stolen material and fair use material, we'll be beaming content directly to our brains.