Fair Use. Copyright. Public Domain. All of these terms are related to each other, yet they all have different meaning that confuses even the most well-informed people.Any original content is protected under copyright law. Original content means: a drawing, a photograph, a video file, the lyrics to a song...
The Internet is merely a medium for distributing content; like newspapers, magazines, books, films, radio, television, satellite broadcasts, and DVDs. The difference, of course, is that the Internet has the potential to reach hundreds of millions of viewers immediately and simultaneously. When it comes to the Copyright Act, though,...
You can't use popular songs or any copyrighted music for your videos online. It's illegal. Yet, finding royalty-free music beds for your YouTube videos is a difficult task. It needs to be something that suits the video you’re making and it needs to be legal to use. If you...
Each year is a better year for online video producers like us. Why? Just look at the stats: each of us added 480 minutes of viewership last year, according to comScore, Inc, a site that follows and measure digital trends. But with ever-increasing viewership comes the potential for unwanted...
Content creators have to step lightly in the minefield that is copyright law, but there are safer paths.
You just finished a video and want to upload it to YouTube. Nothing important or commercial, just your kids playing at the park. But, being a media creator, you had to dress...
Last week, we looked at what fair use ISN'T. So now let's look at what it is. Basically, fair use depends on a few factors, most importantly(1) the amount of material you copy from the original work, (2) your purpose in using that material, (3) the nature of the...
We frequently get questions from video creators about the rules for making use of other creators' work in their own projects. If a piece of art was created so long ago that its copyright has expired and it's since fallen into the public domain, you're free to make use...
The scenario is simple: background music, either live or recorded, is playing while you are videotaping a scene. Explaining the law in regards to copyright infringement is, unfortunately, not as simple. Essentially, any background sounds protected by copyright that you include in your video, without obtaining permission, could make...
What happens when videos of great magnitude come along? Nowadays they are shown, distributed and lauded in the course of a day. This is the case with a breakthrough video by Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University, whose mashup video uses Disney characters to define the term Fair Use....
Don't Get Scammed!
While I was sorting through our canceled 2006 checks looking for income tax deductions, I came across a check to Periodic Billing Services Inc. My wife wrote it out way back in January 06 for $36.99 thinking it was to pay for 36 issues of Videomaker magazine....
