I'm Constantly Surprised By How OK People Are With Stealing Video Content (Youtube vids etc)
10Stealing peoples youtube/vimeo/whatever videos and uploading them to a FB page or other social media page rather than linking. This is one of my pet peeves. And I realize and accept the fact that a pet peeve means it bothers me WAY more than it should. But on the other hand, it SHOULD bother people.
I'm constantly amazed at how no one, and I mean NO ONE seems to give a shit about this. And I live in a world of musicians and artists. I'd say 75%+ of my social media connections are people who create for a living - be it music, painting, online creation, whatever. And basically every single one of them will not think twice about sharing a video from some random facebook page that is clearly taken from youtube and never think twice.
If I uploaded a song of theirs and posted it on my page without giving credit to them they would have a meltdown. and rightly so.
If I uploaded a picture of a drawing that an artist did and posted it on my page without giving them credit they would freak the fuck out. With good reason.
But every single day people repost videos that some dill hole has ripped off of youtube and posted to their own FB page and no one gives a shit.
I'm honestly curious as to why no one cares?
There are pages who apparently exist solely to ripoff other peoples youtube content, post it to their FB page so that it gets shared and ups the eyeballs on their FB page. It's blatant. Yet no one cares. Why?
I just saw a post today from a friend. This guy is a badass musician. He has millions of hits on his soundcloud and yt pages. He reposted a video that was very clearly made by a company who does funny vids. It was uploaded to this concert promoters page and the watermark edited out of the video. It doesn't get any more blatant than that. The guy had 250k+ shares on his FB page. The youtube vid had 100k views. That really, REALLY pisses me off.
Why is everyone cool with this? Does this bother anyone else like it bothers me?
- 20 comments, 36 replies
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I own nothing
No infringement intended
@matthew "...I'm posting it for the good of the people"
Content is supposed to be free, man! No one owns it! Everyone can share in the hard work of the talent creator without them getting compensated! Why do you have to be such a square with your corporate lingo, maaaan?
@BillLehecka Yeah man! Break the system man! We aren't part of that corporate bullshid man! In fact, I'm so against the corporates, I don't even say bad words right man! Break the system maaaaaan.
@BillLehecka @legendornothing I don't know boys... this sounds like
@ruouttaurmind That seems like an oxymoron to me . . .
@joelmw Not nearly as much of an oxymoron as the copyright assertions the artist makes on his Anarchy themed works. LMAO!
If it bothered me, the first thing I would do is contact the artist to let them know somebody appears to be infringing their IP rights, and provide URL.
If it bothered me.
@TerriblyHuang I do that.
If it makes you feel any better, the corporations are just as bad- claiming rights to every video, sticking ads on videos they don't own, and sending very-probably-illegitimate takedown notices to other people's videos.
Copyright is a tricky issue for some (or just a blatant disregard). It bothers me too.
Most of my social circle are musicians too, but I haven't noticed the same thing much.
What I don't get is how many people post things to Youtube that clearly aren't their work. The whole "I don't own any rights to this video... just sharing it for the good of the people" -- that doesn't sit right with me. But then again, when I'm researching a song, I'm always glad when I can find a recording on Youtube before I go purchase it.
@luvche21 At least with the music on YouTube, when YouTube identifies the track they start paying royalties.
I don't understand this "problem" but I don't use Facebook nor do I watch youtube videos for anything other than how to fix stuff.
@RedHot You might not use Facebook, but Facebook is using you.
@moosetoga what? How is facebook using me if I don't have a facebook?
Although there is surely some outright IP theft going on, you DO recognize YouTube has a very specific TOS and EULA that covers this very subject when uploading content to their site, right? If I upload content to YouTube I have the choice to limit or restrict embedding altogether. If I do not configure my content in that way, according to the YouTube TOS and User Agreement, content I've uploaded becomes available for use on other websites. So all those reposted videos on Facebook... fair use per the terms content owners agreed to when uploading.
@ruouttaurmind I think that the embedding isn't the problem. It's the people who use utilities to download/rip the videos off of YouTube and upload the videos on their page/channel, without any credit.
@grum Agreed. I didn't get that from the OP, but as the thread has developed I understand what OP was referring to.
Like others, I'm not sure I know quite what you're talking about, but like you and others, I have many friends who are musicians and artists. Most of them seem a lot less bothered by this sort of thing than one might think. And I think that's partly because they realize that some of it is inevitable.
And I'm gonna go ahead and say that while I don't steal from media corporations (variously too much hassle and not worth it), I honestly don't give a flying fuck about their alleged intellectual property rights, because most of their "rights" are arbitrary and in fact stolen in the first place--stolen from the artists that they use to make us feel guilty about our infringement on their insane fiefdoms.
The reality is that there's very little justice in the world--especially in this particular domain. And all of this bitching and whining about IP is usually being done by or on behalf of the biggest thieves of all, and does little to benefit the creative grunts doing the actual work.
And in the meantime legitimate collaboration and borrowing (the kind that's gone on for millennia and to the general benefit of all) is hindered.
But again, I'm not sure I know exactly the thing you were talking about. I just heard folks talk about IP.
If this isn't relevant, then, never mind.
I understand exactly what you are talking about. I think a large part of it is how difficult it is to get the permissions and linking done right. If you copy off a vid from somewhere and then upload it directly to FB, you've removed complexity and increased the chance that people can view it, comment on it, etc.
@JerseyFrank The vast majority of YouTube videos are very easy to share on Facebook, just paste the link into a text box and Facebook will even take care of embedding it for you so you don't have to leave their site (or their ads).
Not all, but the vast majority of people who upload stuff to YouTube WANT it to go viral, and WANT it to be shared, passed around, etc. Sure, in a perfect scenario everyone would link back to the original so every view can be counted and everyone is credited properly, but of course that doesn't always happen, and that's part of the process.
Creative people do what they do for all sorts of reasons, sometimes financial, sometimes fame-seeking, sometimes vain, sometimes expressive, and sometimes purely artistic, or a mixture of the above. One thing though that tends to unite them is that the more people who hear their message, the better. Tell any artist that their work just went viral on Facebook and is being enjoyed by millions and they're much more likely to be delighted and flattered than disgusted and angry.
As Cory Doctorow once put it, “Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy."
@Starblind They're a lot less thrilled for something going viral when someone else is taking the credit and they remain in obscurity...
Posting to facebook, eh? I took a video of my friends' dogs looking all sad at their backdoor. (wanting inside) I then slowed down this video and added a short audio clip of that Sarah McLachlan's song Angel and some text boxes that popped-up over the video. (basically telling them to not forget about their puppies because they had a new human baby) It was hilarious. I tried to share it with them on Facebook and it was denied due to copyright infringement. Boo.
Yeah it's obvious I'm not being very clear in what I'm trying to get across. What I'm specifically talking about is, say I upload a video to youtube of me unboxing my Eveready Lanterns and it goes sorta viral because it's funny because it's a camera instead of a lantern.
Now say some douchebag goes to a site like keepvid or whatever and grabs an mp4 of my video and then uploads it to his own FB page as if it's his own video and doesn't give me the credit or anything because the video is hot and he knows if he uploads it to his page people will share it.
Here is a shitty example but it's one I can find right off the top of my head.
Here's a video I found on youtube. No idea if this is the actual original or not but it's possible:
Now here's that same exact video this guy uploaded to his FB page where he just happens to also promote his business
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=655932447824981&set=vb.100002246958359&type=3
And that's what I'm getting at that I see all over the place now. I'd say I see it at least 3-4 times a week minimum. And it annoys the crap outta me.
@Bingo That BMW video was sick though!
@clselfridge agreed. Totes glad that 2nd dude posted to Facebook. I might have to patronize his business.
Oh and a much better example of what I mean is what started this. Unfortunately, the video is gone off the guys FB page as my friend likely said something to him.
However, this is the original video. Someone obviously put a LOT of time and energy into with the intent to have a funny product
The same guy I linked above posted that exact same video on his FB page minus the opening couple seconds that show the "#Studio C" logo. Clearly someone made this intending to get views on a youtube page and you have to go out of your way to steal this and upload it to your own FB page. It's not an accident.
@Bingo In fact, the removal of the logo would seem to show malicious intent.
@Bingo On a side note, I just interviewed at the university that produces Studio C's videos. Crossing my fingers for that job!
@Bingo This is exactly NOT what I thought you were talking about in your original posting. In this case, it is not fair use and I completely agree... it's wrong.
@Bingo I can agree that whoever doctored and reposted this is a dick.
"Fair use" rights that have been around for thousands of years have been gutted to the point that I do not really care about so called IP rights anymore.
Had the government restrained itself to the dictates of the Copyright Clause:
"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
I might feel more sympathetic. But denying use for hundreds of years is not a limited time, and thus the current copyright protection scheme violates people's fair use right to use information for the betterment of society.
So screw the MPAA, RIAA, and all the rest of the lobbyists that are destroying the country - and by extension the world.
Information should be free. If you want to keep it a secret, then don't post it on Facebook.
@sexygoldfish Or YouTube.
@sexygoldfish I actually agree when it comes to information. But how about something you've created? Should you be able to exert some control over it? And more specifically to my rant - is it morally OK to take someones else's creation and pass it off as your own for your own gain?
@Bingo Unless they specifically say "I made this", I wouldn't generally assume that a random video posted to FB was the work of whoever posted it. Most people post things they find funny, informative, inspiring, interesting, cute, etc.
Often, people genuinely don't have the option of crediting the original uploader because they just don't have that info. It's technically not "right", but it's an extremely minor & pedantic, and frankly kind of pitiful thing to get upset about.
@sexygoldfish I think this is less about the MPAA and RIAA, particularly since they have plenty of money for lawyers to fight their battle for them. This is more about the small operators, the people who never would've even had a chance before the internet, the ones who can't afford the lawyers and spend the time keeping track of what's happening to their stuff. They're the ones who are getting screwed, and they're too weak to fight for themselves. YouTube's ad revenue is great. There aren't really that many who can make a living off YouTube revenue, but there are a lot more who can at least fund their passion thanks to YouTube revenue. If something goes viral elsewhere and a couple hundred thousand people view it but don't view the one that generates revenue, that can severely hurt their ability to pursue their passion in the way that they'd like.
@jqubed @sexygoldfish @Starblind @Bingo Until recently I had a small side business selling materials for making specific items. I went through quite a bit of trouble and not-so-modest expense creating how-to videos... Instructables... on how to create things with the materials I sold. In each video I included a title with my venture name and website/eBay store. Throughout the videos I included URL's to specific products. It was only about three weeks after I posted the first series of videos, I received a message from a customer with a link to another website. That site had done exacatly as @Bingo mentions in the post above... they stripped my videos, clipped the links to my website and pixelated any references to my website and eBay store appearing in the video, replacing them with their own company name. @sexygoldfish , is it reasonable to expect someone else to cash in on the expense I put fourth producing resources to promote my business? It's one thing if that company had linked my video, saying "see how to do it in this video". At least then I'd still have a chance to gain the viewer's business. But to strip my vid, clip the titles and credits, mask my URL's with thier own and post it to their website?
@ruouttaurmind Yeah, that's obviously a bad thing to do, but that's also an outlier case where they clearly went out of their way to be a dick. Plausible, but unusual. Much more commonly people just post "check out this cute kitten video!" or whatever, without proper attribution but also with no claim that it's their own work either.
@Bingo I'll be the one person who agrees with you. It infuriates me and bothers me a lot more than maybe it should. I also have a lot of artistic friends and I went on a little rant about this very thing about a year ago (though it was related to Upworthy stealing) and got nary a comment. Upworthy posted a video that some teacher made and it was really, really good. (For the record, I don't visit Upworthy on my own, a teacher-friend shared it) I scrolled down to look for the credit to see who made it and there was none. Clicked on the video to see it on Youtube and it took me to Upworthy's channel. It had hundreds of thousands of views but no credit to the original creator.
I spent about ten minutes tracking it down and finally found the teacher's channel and the original video that was stolen. He only had a tiny fraction of the views that the stolen video had. So, guess which one of them got all the view count revenue? It definitely wasn't the teacher who could have really used it for something good.
@PurplePawprints What's your evidence that they "stole" the video, which I assume you mean used without permission? Upworthy sucks for reasons to numerous to go into here, but they do give proper credit and this is the first I've heard of them using content without permission, so I'm not really sure why you'd assume that. What was the video?
@Starblind I know it because I was on their site looking at the video and searching for source info because I wanted to know who made it. I couldn't find it anywhere and they had ripped the video and uploaded it directly to their channel. All of this is what I said above. As for what the video was....it was over a year ago. I'll see if I can dig it up but I can't remember right now.
@PurplePawprints And you didn't consider it a possibility that he gave permission for the video to be shared but didn't want it to be linked to his teaching account, either for privacy or because he'd rather not have Upworthy-style comments on his work videos? Again, Upworthy is plenty shitty, but aren't known for not getting permission/giving credit. For example, they recently posted a video that made use of MLK speech clips, and linked not only to the original speeches on Archive.org but even to the original of a still photo used in the video. The material was all public domain so they weren't legally obligated to credit their source, but they did.
@Starblind Well, I just spent waaay too long hunting down the videos. As of now, one year after posting, they do link to original creator's page and claim to be partners with him. I know this wasn't the case at the time. I think I even sent him a message about it letting him know, so it could be that they worked something out later. The video on his channel has 6000 views now and on Upworthy's there are over 300k. I still feel like it's poor form because they are (or were) reaping revenue for his content. Also, I'm pretty sure it wasn't an issue of him wanting to keep it private. The whole reason he made the video was because he wanted people to know about it. Rewatching it tonight and my memory may have exaggerated how 'good' it was, but it definitely made an impression on me at the time. Anyway, I've spent way to much time on this tonight and am going to bed. G'night all.
I agree with you @Bingo. I don't think it's something most people would really think of, though, and frankly I know a lot of people who wouldn't even realize the difference. Still, you'd expect people in creative fields who probably deal with those things themselves would be more aware than the average person.
i totally agree, except in rare instances where things are likely to be removed or are imports of a sort. for instance japan has a nico douga video streaming service that is much like youtube and many great animations that go on there people just don't share on youtube. the website requires a login to watch anything and it's only in japanease. people mostly do credit the orginal, but it's pointless anyway since you can't access it anyway.
but other then that i can't stand this; though there is another good exception. and that is when you reupload to make sure it doesn't ever disapear, but credit the original. i still think that is ok.
you could stop going on Facebook.
that would prevent you from seeing the problem & wigging out.
'Lots of squirming, rationalizing and excuses going on here (big evil corporations, don't post it, etc...) but that doesn't excuse stealing others' creative content.
Sharing via the original link maintains the ownership path (assuming that poster did not steal).
Just because it is easy to steal and/or difficult to post with permission does not excuse it.
Yes, like a few others, it bothers me more than most folks, so be it.
The content owners could do themselves a favor by making it more clear when they do and do not want content to go into free use. But I'm not sure it would make much of a difference for some abusers.
@RedOak The people who are going to steal are probably going to steal one way or another. Where we as consumers have an ability to make a difference is to be a little more vigilant about not helping the thieves profit, and alerting the creators to the theft.
Thread necro!!
So this morning there has been a perfect example of exactly what I mean.
Check FB and see 2 different friends have shared posts of the same video from 2 different sites. 30 seconds of searching pulls up what I think is the original video which has a fraction of the views of those other 2 sites that have lifted it off the original site and uploaded it as if it was their own.
Here's what I think is the original, based primarily on it being the source of several embeds at other sites and the fact that is has the "For licensing, please contact" disclaimer at the top of it.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=08c_1426460625
@Bingo Here's one site which has taken it from there, edited it to remove the liveleak watermark and re-uploaded it https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=911824828880153
@Bingo And another site which at least left the LiveLeak watermark https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153192200556600
@Bingo And here's the kicker. The original video has 471k views. Not bad at all. However, the first site I linked that stole it has over 6 MILLION views. The second site has over 8 million. That's a SHITLOAD of revenue the original loses out on.