On Friday, February 04, 2011 1:33 PM, Marc Carter wrote: >Hi, All -- > >One of my students is considering using YouTube clips in a source/false >memory study, and we don't know about copyright issues. Do any of >you have any idea about whether it's appropriate to do that without seeking >permission in advance? > >We could email the person who posted it and get permission that way, >but I'm not sure of the legality of it. Any advice will be greatly >appreciated.
A few points. (1) This is a legal question that you should ask an attorney associated with your school. This is a serious issue. Stop and think about it. Would You post to Tips something like "I'm having serious chest pains. Does anyone have any ideas whether I'm having a heart attack?" (2) I'm not a lawyer (just saying; most people on Tips are not lawyers and you do want to get a legal opinion from a lawyer) but as soon as you "fix" something into a particular form (e.g., a narrative text, a painting or drawing, a picture, a video, etc.) you automatically hold the copyright to the fixed form, regardless of whether you specify a copyright notice or not. This is why the writer of a doctoral dissertation doesn't have to submit a formal copyright notice or even specify that the author holds the copyright -- it is assumed (e.g., my dissertation somehow wound up on books.google.com and when I asked them how it got there I didn't get an answer but they said that I held the copyright and they would not display any of the text unless I gave them permission to do so; a copy still can be gotten from the Dissertations Abstracts folks). Same for YouTube videos. People who put up original videos hold the copyright to the video UNLESS THEY EXPLICITLY GIVE IT UP. See, for example: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=83755 Assume that someone who puts up an original work on YouTube holds the copyright unless they explicitly say otherwise. Then again, I'm not a lawyer and as YoutTube states, they're not relying upon lawyer's advice, so you better get the advice of a lawyer. (3) I think the real issue if whether one's use of a video falls under the "fair use" provision of the copyright law. If the original creator of a video wants to be "difficult", they claim that no one can use their video unless they get their permission (and perhaps some compensation). This issue comes up when people "embed" a YouTube video on their website. One discussion of the issues is provided here: http://www.thesitewizard.com/general/embed-youtube-video-copyright-matters.shtml Again, the person writing on this website is not a lawyer and is not rendering a legal opinion but it does provide context for the issues involved. Which should be helpful when one does talk to a lawyer about the specific use of a video is "fair use" or requires the permission of the copyright holder. Some copyright holders won't care while others will and may want to be compensated somehow for the use of their original materials. Copyright is a weird issue but if you want to play it safe (a) always ask the apparent holder of the copyrighted material for permission to use it, and/or (b) get a legal opinion, especially from someone who does copyright law. -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=8521 or send a blank email to leave-8521-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
