Forums / Technical Help / Downloading and Copyright question

1. It's on the bottom right of your video page, as long as downloading is allowed.
2. I would assume, no. It would still be illegal. If you steal a ring and no one finds out about it, it's still a stealing. ;-)

I would say if its set to private then NO its not copyright infringment. Its only copyright infringment if you make a copy to sell or make PUBLICLY accesible. Essentially its a backup copy of something you own legally which you ARE allowed to do unless you broke some kind of copy protection scheme when you made a copy of it. If this were illegal any offsite BACKUP website would be hosting terabytes of illegally copied material. .....but since its only for the uploaders individual use then its NOT copyright infringment.

thanks for both of the replies! i was hoping one of the staff folks could chime in on the private/copyright issue . . . but appreciate your input!

:)

got it. thanks blake!

Hi, I have a question.
What if I have several copyright-free videos, that are listed as Public Domain on the internet.
Can I post them here, publicly, not private videos ?

OK, I'm a little confused on that.
I am making the videos, with VirtualDUB and some of the custom encoding tools I wrote myself in GFA.

These are not movies that I have downloaded off of the internet, so yes, these are videos that I made from the original source, and yes, I own them personally, having purchased them.

You can see a complete list of the public-domain movies here, most of which I have, and several of which are as recent as 1980:

desertislandfilms.com/

In uploading one of these listed public-domain videos made by me (from the original video, generally using filters for video clarity and compression for space issues), is that acceptable as a publicly listed video on Vimeo ?

Well, I certainly wouldn't go so far as to say I MADE the film from scratch. I didn't know if you just didn't want internet trepanners (finding clips they never encoded)

OK, what about the copyright then ?

Copyright-Free is defined thus:

"Media that has no copyright or fee, which means you can copy, use, and even alter and sell it. [San Diego State University]"

The reason for a video to enter this curious state:

"The films copyright registration was not renewed after its initial 28 years of copyright protection. Or, the film was never registered at all."

Can I post a video that has no copyright on Vimeo ?

I apologize if you feel this is direct questioning - I ask this ultimately of all the video sites I locale so I don't break any taboos they have set, and for the fact that copyright-free covers a very particular range.

Thus, so you (the staff) and viewers can look forward to future videos submitted both from me and others that meet this category where there is no violation in posting it in any manner or form and thereby increase population and participation of new Vimeo members.

In lieue to the answer here, I'd like to upload, "First Man In Space." screened in 1959. You can see IMDB's description here:

imdb.com/title/tt0052805/

Hope This Helps !

dw, I watched the "Scary Movie 2 Clip - Basket Case" video and did you actually do anything to it besides encode/upload? And from what source did you acquire the clip? From my understanding even though a piece may be in the public domain, the actual copy of the piece may not be. In other words though the original work is in the public domain, if you buy a copy of that movie, the rights to that copy of the movie is that of whomever produced it. (yes, it is all very very convoluted) So it would not be okay to copy that DVD version of it irrespective of its supposed "public domain" status.

There are so many fine lines when it comes to this kind of stuff it's mindboggling, and from what I've seen of Vimeo for so many reasons it seems they would prefer to err on the side of caution ... and I can't say that I blame them.

All that said, as I see it, the clip you posted ("Scary Movie 2 Clip - Basket Case") would not meet the criteria for Vimeo. Not trying to bust your balls, it's not my site, just trying to help ya figure this out.

- Ray

The 2-minute pieces are not the entire movie.
I was testing the graphic capability of your conversions, which I consider even at this point, good. I apologize if you found the content disturbing or felt it a direct violation of copyright policy. Usually I don't expect to be reprimanded for a 2-minute upload, however, because of the standards VIMEO has set, I understand quite clearly now.

I'm going to attempt to help you because it is my nature to do so. Here is your opening statement for uploading:

- - -
Please upload a video only if:
You created it, or participated closely in its creation. No TV shows or footage you found on the web.
It does not contain pornography.
It is not a commercial, infomercial or other type of advertisement.
- - -
"Please" is a conditional statement.
There is no condition you have granted me nor anyone else inasfar as what I have read so far.
- - -

Now Dalas and Blake, I would change the wording to something very close to this:
- - -
You are permitted only to upload a video if:
You created it, or participated closely in its creation.
If you were not an actor or actress in the film nor you held the videocamera or participated in the production of the original video at all, then your video will be deleted immediately. This includes copyright-free works. There are no exceptions. We have high standards here and welcome original work only, that you or your team have recorded with a videocamera.
- - -

If what I wrote above does help your site and weed out undesirable uploaders, then you're welcome. :)

You don't have to use those exact words.
The point you want to get across is that this site is exclusively for videocamera operators only. All I lost was a few days work and preparation for uploads, and that can be forgiven.

I'd like to see it fare better for visitors after today. And I hope this clarifies for the future visitors you meet.

If, however, you completely disregard what I wrote above and continue on with the wording exactly the way you have it now, then you are showing me that you enjoy the skirmish that has occured today because it WILL occur again, though not necessarily addressed in a forum, and I would very much like to believe this site, staff, moderators, and members are NOT beneath such malicious intent as to confuse and frustrate first-time uploaders due to the site's current lack of clarity.

If you think I'm stretching this out too far, then this would only be true if you have permitted others either mixed videos, those they did and didn't write, or those who posted videos they didn't write, however, you decided you like their content and permit it. I am not accusing you. I am saying that if this IS the case then, that is hypocritical behavior.

I haven't gone out to look hard to see if the conditions you have set for me are true with other uploaders, and for now, I trust you are being 100% honest with me in fair justification.

Certainly you, your staff, and your new visitors deserve better treatment than this, and few things are better off than clarity and honest intentions.

After today, I hope am the last person you have to address on this issue of what can or cannot be uploaded because it takes time away from both me and you, especially you and your members.

Hope This Helps !

*

I clarified that the public-domain videos I could post are purchased.
I apologize if I was not clear on that point, NO, not "stuff found on the internet."

Against my better judgement I decided to check to see if you were correct about the Golden Rule.

You are incorrect.

I have found several videos on this site that are not original content, easily, whatsoever, and have been here for considerable time.

Now, either you are grossly uninformed as to what is occuring on your site or are turning a blind eye to it. In any case, their infraction is considerably deeper than my 2-minute random video so why are you not aware of these clearly existing copyrighted videos if you insist you do not accept them at all ?

I am not moving to debate. I am feeling singled out here because of pre-existing content on this site exceeding the limits you have just defined above.

Please Consider

*

I have no interest nor desire to hunt down your would-be transgressors as in my eyes, they are posting good valid videos that benefit and entertain the community. You are staging a unique media handicap for visitors and yourselves in a kind of elite club democracy and have given unclear rules as to what is permitted written in your upload phase since I have been here.

I earlier suggested you change the upload text as this would definitely stop most problems. You have not done so (I just checked). The confusion and frustration will continue for new arrivals. As for me I am on to better sites that can at least enforce what they preach.

This conversation is terminated.

*

Odd the last two entries were deleted.
Take time to lose some of that anger and LISTEN to what I am telling you. It WILL benefit your site if you can stop being the controlling factor for a minute.
- - -
I have no interest nor desire to hunt down your would-be transgressors as in my eyes, they are posting good valid videos that benefit and entertain the community. You are staging a unique media handicap for visitors and yourselves in a kind of elite club democracy and have given unclear rules as to what is permitted written in your upload phase since I have been here. I earlier suggested you change the upload text as this would definitely stop most problems. You have not done so (I just checked). The confusion and frustration will continue for new arrivals.

Additional:
You have a good site, I have never denied this.
You have good members and friends, I have never denied this.
You stand room for improvement, we all do.

Now that's a statement you won't feel obliged to delete.

We only delete things we hide from others.
If it's the truth, it will be deleted.
If it's a lie, it would be defended.

- - -

Guys, I fully support your decision to not post copyrighted videos on Vimeo. I have flagged a few myself as this helps Vimeo survive the lawyers. However, by not allowing true public domain or creative commons-licensed videos to be posted here, you open the door for problems.

You see, my videos are shot by me, and licensed under the Creative Commons "BY" 3.0 license. The audio used is also from the similarly licensed CC-BY, but it's not created by me, but others in the CC community. I always make clear in both the credits and description the licensing terms of both and I always make sure that the music I use is CC-BY (I don't even use other CC licenses, as they are more restrictive, I make sure they are "BY"-licensed).

However, if third party public domain/CC videos are not allowed on Vimeo, then why is random music allowed? And I am not talking about my own carefully chosen CC-BY music, but most people over here are using commercial music.

I think that if you want to go pure, I think you should do it right. Allow TRUE PD/CC videos as long as there is EVIDENCE that the video/music IS PD/CC (like I do in my credits, where I include the album/track/artist and URL of where I found the music), and allow PD/CC music too. But if you are going to remove public domain videos, then you should remove 99.9% of your music-added videos too.

So basically, what I am saying is that, if a user wants to upload a CC/PD video/music piece on Vimeo, he should be allow to, AS LONG AS he offers ALL the needed PROOF that the piece is indeed CC/PD. What do you say?

blake, dalas and andrew... you guys are PATIENT!

Soundtracks are indeed a legal issue!

And, I'd say that a large number
of the soundtracks for videos
posted on vimeo are in breach of
international copyright law.

To get back into audio copyright compliance mode.....

Simply apply the same vimeo upload standard
regarding video to audio, or, be in breach.
IE, if you did not actually play it, record it,
and or sing it, then do not use it as a
backing for your/any video you intend to upload
to a public place like vimeo.

Any other stance regarding the audio component
of the videos uploaded here borders on
being illegal imo, and denies natural justice
to the creators of the audio being unfairly used without permission!

So, I'll spend the next year reporting everyone
and there videos, I think, barring Miro, who uses
stock music he's bought options for!
Methinks not but.....

Btw, I just did a deal to get a local
to blow some didgereedoo for me.
Cost, twenty dollars for twenty minutes worth.
I also had conditions, prime condition is,
the musician must sign clearance or, no payment.
Otherwise, I am open to potential
copyright infringement dramas at some future time.

I can perform and record all my own music, using other peoples music is optional but, once a decision to use someone elses work is taken, then, one must get the correct permissions or, be vunerable to issues. Really it's
only fair yes?

So, 90 percent of us should delete/flag
immediately most of what is on this site:)
Just to be in technical and spiritual compliance.
Anything else is double standards plus.

Let me finally just state this another way.

if, you make a video, and then add
a soundtrack of a song created by bandX,
that's all good, however, if you upload it to
vimeo, that's not good, and, it's illegal!

peace:)