Youtube & Copyrights

Question

Hi,I was watching the show "Urban Legends" on Bio channel the other night and saw that they used a story I wrote a few years ago which became an urban legend. The original short news story got passed around in email, etc, and ended up on TV, eventually.Here's a Youtube link for it: nmReSIThe original story I wrote is referenced here:http://www.snopes.com/religion/plastic.aspA few things were changed in the Bio channel's version of it, but it's clear that they used my story, and I wonder what I might do about it, in several different regards.If Bio Channel tries to hit me with copyright infringement, for my Youtube video, I think I would actually like that to happen, so I can get in contact with their lawyers...What would others around here do, in my situation?Elroy Williswww.elroysemporium.com

Usenet · Accepted Answer

@reader2.panix.com:
[nq:1]If Bio Channel tries to hit me with copyright infringement, for my Youtube video, I think I would actually like that to happen, so I can get in contact with their lawyers...[/nq]
They'll just write a letter to YouTube, who will then close your account and never reply to your e-mail. It's just one more middleman to muddle the issue.
jaybee

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]If Bio Channel tries to hit me with copyright infringement, ... happen, so I can get in contact with their lawyers...[/nq]
[nq:1]They'll just write a letter to YouTube, who will then close your account and never reply to your e-mail. It's just one more middleman to muddle the issue.[/nq]
But I feel I have the right to store the video on my own site, and pass the link around, without any copyright problems, don't you think?

http://www.elroysemporium.com/videos/dashboardjesus.mpeg

If Bio Channel confronts me about the above video, then I can pursue things from there. I don't feel worried about violating any copyrights, since I think I have the upper hand, so to speak...

Elroy Willis
www.elroysemporium.com

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I was watching the show "Urban Legends" on Bio channel the other night and saw that they used a story ... to happen, so I can get in contact with their lawyers... What would others around here do, in my situation?[/nq]
I think your urban legend story is a very interesting case.

You definitely wrote it, and so have a copyright on it. But you also wrote it originally for distribution to newsgroups, which I think introduces some ambiguities.Take this with a grain of non-lawyerly salt, as IANAL. But newsgroups are not the same as e-mail and they're not the same as a web site. If you published first to a website, I think your work would be treated much as any published work, and the copyright office would recognize your first date of creation as the date it appeared on your web page, and people would have to pay you to re-use the story. In other words, a website is treated sort like a newspaper.

If, however, you had "published" your story by sending in to some individual as e-mail, you would own the copyright but the recipient of the e-mail would own their copy of your work, and would (generally) be free to use it as they wish. That's why when you read the published letters of some famous author they often contain the reply letters from their correspondents: because the famous author owns the copy of the letter sent to them.
So, when something is published on a newsgroup, is it more like being published on a web page or more like being sent out to a set of recipients as a sort of group e-mail? If the latter, then I think you lose some rights. But I suspect that this has never been fully addressed by the copyright office and/or the courts. And maybe I'm completely wrong, because, of course, IANYL or anyone else's lawyer either.

But one thing I do know is that if you do want to claim copyright, then you must defend your copyright when you see it violated. Nothing says you don't own a copyright like watching passively as somebody copies your work. If you feel someone has tread on your ownership and you sit around waiting for them to sue you, it will appear to the courts that you did not feel a violation took place.
At the very least I would draft a letter of complaint to the Bio Channel saying that your material was used without credit or compensation. Put them on notice that there are ownership issues.
Alan Brooks

A with an Underwood
Drop-kick me Jesus...
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Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]They'll just write a letter to YouTube, who will then ... e-mail. It's just one more middleman to muddle the issue.[/nq]
[nq:1]But I feel I have the right to store the video on my own site, and pass the link around, ... there. I don't feel worried about violating any copyrights, since I think I have the upper hand, so to speak...[/nq]
You're right, but YouTube isn't going to ask your permission before closing your account, and neither are they going to give you a reason or reply to your e-mail. That means having your lawyers dealing with YouTube just so they can get to the Bio channel and eventually deal with them. It's an extra step of legalese, extra delays and extra fees for nothing, really, since YouTube can't be held liable in any of this.
jaybee

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]At the very least I would draft a letter of complaint to the Bio Channel saying that your material was used without credit or compensation. Put them on notice that there are ownership issues.[/nq]
Oh great, between greedy WGA members striking and greedy copyright holders suing, what's left to watch for us poor slobs?
jaybee

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]You're right, but YouTube isn't going to ask your permission before closing your account, and neither are they going to ... of legalese, extra delays and extra fees for nothing, really, since YouTube can't be held liable in any of this.[/nq]
You could try, however, to pre-empt cancellation by putting a disclaimer at the beginning of your YouTube video (and in the description). But the fact remains that while you wrote the original story, the production of it remains the Bio channel's, so no one can use it.
jaybee

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]At the very least I would draft a letter of ... compensation. Put them on notice that there are ownership issues.[/nq]
[nq:1]Oh great, between greedy WGA members striking and greedy copyright holders suing, what's left to watch for us poor slobs?[/nq]
Well, you could try these:

K7E
Alan Brooks

A with an Underwood
Check it out, this
butter in my mouth
won't melt.
MWSM FAQ: http://www.panix.com/~mwsm/faq.html
Filtering Trolls: http://www.panix.com/~mwsm/trolls.html

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]At the very least I would draft a letter of ... compensation. Put them on notice that there are ownership issues.[/nq]
[nq:1]Oh great, between greedy WGA members striking and greedy copyright holders suing, what's left to watch for us poor slobs? jaybee[/nq]
Barney

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]A few things were changed in the Bio channel's version of it, but it's clear that they used my story, ... to happen, so I can get in contact with their lawyers... What would others around here do, in my situation?[/nq]
I am not a laywer and all that.
But remember that you can't copyright an idea, just the expression of that idea in fixed form.
What's the idea here: "Woman killed by dashboard jesus driven into her chest by airbag in an incident."
The question isn't if the idea was borrowed - no doubt it was - but whether the particular expression of it was, and I'm not sure that it is.

-Ron

Usenet · Answer

Back in the early 70s there was a goofy song on the radio:

I don't care if it rains and freezes
Long as I got my plastic Jesus
ridin' on the dashboard of my carrr
I don't care if it's dark and scary
Long as I got magnetic Mary
ridin' on the dashboard of my carrr
I don't care if it rains and snows as
Long as I got my metal Moses
ridin' on the dashboard of my carrr

Youtube & Copyrights

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