YouTube gave the user to lawyers
YouTube's video hosting service can not only remove legally protected material from its website, but also provide, at the request of the rights holders, the data of the user who posted the material. That is what happened to Chris Moukarbel, a film director from New York, who was sued by Paramount film studio.
On May 24 of this year, the film company filed a lawsuit in San Francisco court, which required YouTube to issue information about the user who posted an excerpt from the movie Twin Towers in the public domain, reports MarketWatch . After a couple of weeks, the data were provided to the film company lawyers.
For experts in the field of copyright this precedent was a real surprise. Instead of simply removing the video from the site, as was done this Friday , when about 30,000 videos were deleted at the request of Japanese media companies, YouTube chose to disclose user data.
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“YouTube gave up too easily,” says Laurence Colton, an attorney with Powell & Goldstein LLP (Atlanta). “This event should demonstrate to users that in case of possible legal incidents the service will not protect its users.”
The story of Twin Towers is reminiscent of how at one time the giants of the entertainment industry fought Napster and other sites where you could download copyrighted material for free. Lawyers first sent a warning to sites and their users, and then filed a lawsuit. It seems that the fight with YouTube users will be conducted in the same style. And the fact that some media companies have already declared their readiness to defend the rights to video clips in court promises users of an online service quite real offline problems.
The fact that Chris Mokarbel’s data was provided to Paramount lawyers is essentially against the policy of Google , which bought YouTube two weeks ago . Usually, Google defends the privacy of its users: some time ago, the company struggled with the US Department of Justice, which required to provide data on search engine users. In addition, at the moment she is arguing on this issue with the authorities of Brazil and India.
Paramount Pictures spokesman Nancy Kirkpatrick states that the company's actions against Mokarbel "are by no means directed against YouTube."
For the main person involved in the case of Chris Mocarbel, as he himself says, “the era of video sites is over.” “The days of YouTube are numbered,” says the film director, who settled the conflict with Paramount film studio, removing the posted trailer from his website, from YouTube and other sites where he posted it.
Google is trying to reduce the risk of legal problems with YouTube, the acquisition of which the company plans to complete by the end of 2006. Recall that on the eve of the official announcement of the purchase licensing agreements were concluded with the Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony BMG and CBS. However, these Google actions are designed to protect themselves, not users. Given the size of the media market, possible claims from rights holders can be ruinous for a company, so it’s unclear whether it will continue to be consistent in its policy or prefer to extradite violators of the law.
On May 24 of this year, the film company filed a lawsuit in San Francisco court, which required YouTube to issue information about the user who posted an excerpt from the movie Twin Towers in the public domain, reports MarketWatch . After a couple of weeks, the data were provided to the film company lawyers.
For experts in the field of copyright this precedent was a real surprise. Instead of simply removing the video from the site, as was done this Friday , when about 30,000 videos were deleted at the request of Japanese media companies, YouTube chose to disclose user data.
')
“YouTube gave up too easily,” says Laurence Colton, an attorney with Powell & Goldstein LLP (Atlanta). “This event should demonstrate to users that in case of possible legal incidents the service will not protect its users.”
The story of Twin Towers is reminiscent of how at one time the giants of the entertainment industry fought Napster and other sites where you could download copyrighted material for free. Lawyers first sent a warning to sites and their users, and then filed a lawsuit. It seems that the fight with YouTube users will be conducted in the same style. And the fact that some media companies have already declared their readiness to defend the rights to video clips in court promises users of an online service quite real offline problems.
The fact that Chris Mokarbel’s data was provided to Paramount lawyers is essentially against the policy of Google , which bought YouTube two weeks ago . Usually, Google defends the privacy of its users: some time ago, the company struggled with the US Department of Justice, which required to provide data on search engine users. In addition, at the moment she is arguing on this issue with the authorities of Brazil and India.
Paramount Pictures spokesman Nancy Kirkpatrick states that the company's actions against Mokarbel "are by no means directed against YouTube."
For the main person involved in the case of Chris Mocarbel, as he himself says, “the era of video sites is over.” “The days of YouTube are numbered,” says the film director, who settled the conflict with Paramount film studio, removing the posted trailer from his website, from YouTube and other sites where he posted it.
Google is trying to reduce the risk of legal problems with YouTube, the acquisition of which the company plans to complete by the end of 2006. Recall that on the eve of the official announcement of the purchase licensing agreements were concluded with the Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony BMG and CBS. However, these Google actions are designed to protect themselves, not users. Given the size of the media market, possible claims from rights holders can be ruinous for a company, so it’s unclear whether it will continue to be consistent in its policy or prefer to extradite violators of the law.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/4567/
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