DMCA (Copyright) Explained

[curtisal]

The site is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). To its most basic form, what this means is, if you choose to show content that you do not have legal distribution rights to, the copyright holder can request for the content to be removed. Note “distribution rights” in that statement. Just because you own a DVD of a movie, doesn’t mean you automatically have the right to show (distribute) it across the Internet.

For more information about DMCA see:
http://www.justin.tv/p/dmca

So what is Justin.tv doing about the problem of all the copyright infringements?
More than what many people realize actually. Originally copyright holders of content would have to contact a member of the staff directly and tell them to take it down. As the site grew, more and more infringements appeared, so much that the staff and developers decided to make a solution that would allow copyright holders of content to request tools to do live take downs of channels. This is the primary way it is done today. More recently, there were programs that were built to scan archive and live content to check for content that has been requested not to be on the site by copyright holders. These new sets of programs automatically take down channels it sees infringing. As the site continues to grow, so will the copyright filtering database. More and more copyright holders will ask for their content to be added in the future.

So what as a user can you do about reporting channels you think are copyright infringements?
Actually, you can not do anything unless you are the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of the copyright holders to take down content and/or notify the staff if they find something of theirs on the site that they do not want to be there. How would any user know for sure if the copyright holder gave the broadcaster permission? What if the broadcast is directly by the copyright company? What if the copyright holder doesn't care? How would we know? Simple: We don't.

However, there is a big exception to the above statements. If the content shown is a violation of the site’s terms of service, then the staff/admins can and will take down the channels when discovered. The most common violation of movie channels is for showing a movie with sexually explicit scenes. Nudity is never allowed on Justin.tv. Setting channel to 18+ mature or private (coded) does not make it ok. We don’t hesitate at all if we find someone showing a movie with nudity, for example, any of the “American Pie” movies. Other common movies found on the site with nudity include and are not limited to: “The Hangover”, “Gamer”, “Halloween”, and “The Last House on the Left”. So if a user finds a channel showing content that contains nudity, THEN they can report the channel.

Link to Terms of Service (TOS):
http://www.justin.tv/p/terms_of_service

Time for some FAQs!

Q: I was banned while I was playing a movie that I know doesn’t violate any terms of service. I have seen other channels broadcast the same movie and not get banned. Why is that?
A: You can’t always be sure that it is because of what you were currently playing that got you banned. Chances are that it was a movie you played earlier that was found in the archive. Justin.tv gets a few hundred reports from various channels throughout each day, so some of the violations don’t get read till later in the day.

Q: I never received e-mail to why I was banned!
A: If your channel was banned due to DMCA reasons, an e-mail is sent automatically to the e-mail you have your account setup with explaining what copyright company took down your channel. If you signed up with a fake e-mail, then that’s why you didn’t get notified. If your e-mail was legit, then you may want to check your Junk/Spam e-mail boxes.
If your channel was banned for violating terms of service, you have to contest your ban at suspended@justin.tv with your account name that you are asking about. Many times users forget to include the account name! If the suspension was found to be in error, the staff will contact you back within seven business days.
http://community.justin.tv/mediawiki...ended_accounts

Q: Why do some types of channels get banned more than others of related content?
A: There are a few factors. Many different copyright holders are constantly checking the site for their content. Some companies are more aggressive than others. Some companies don’t mind some specific pieces of their content. It’s really up to them what they allow. Some content is filtered automatically by software, while others are human found. Another thing to note is that just because one copyright holder sees another copyright holder’s content, doesn’t mean they are going to do anything. Warner Brothers isn’t going to take down a Fox movie. They are competitors, so why would they?

Q: I’m a viewer on Justin.tv. I was wondering… How can I report a channel for showing copyrighted material?
A: We understand how you feel about seeing a channel for example showing a movie that you feel shouldn’t be there. But you have to understand that only the actual copyright holder company can request a channel be taken down. It’s always possible that a company doesn’t mind their work being shown. Also, it’s possible that the copyright owner gave the broadcaster permission show the content. We wouldn’t know that they have given them permission either since the agreement could have involved a signed notice kept between the two parties.

Q: So why doesn't Justin.tv just remove all the copyright materials themselves?
A: So how can Justin.tv be sure if the material being broadcasted isn't wanted on the site by the copyright holders? Some new independent movie makers may not care. In fact they may even encourage it to help them get noticed by the public.

We'll be happy to answer any questions you have regarding DMCA here in this thread. We will not answer individual "Why was I banned?" type questions here in this thread or on this forum for that matter.

[korfx04]

You can Legally broadcast movies if you buy the proper license for. Some Charge $100 to $500+ it all depends on number of things. I Have to buy a public performance license for my Mobile Movie Theater and i take donations and sell refreshments to cover the cost of the license. Kind of fun watching a horror movie at 10pm - 1am in some old guys field.

[curtisal]

Originally Posted by korfx04

You can Legally broadcast movies if you buy the proper license for. Some Charge $100 to $500+ it all depends on number of things. I Have to buy a public performance license for my Mobile Movie Theater and i take donations and sell refreshments to cover the cost of the license. Kind of fun watching a horror movie at 10pm - 1am in some old guys field.

Yes, that's a good example of when it's okay.

So many people argue in the help channel on Justin.tv about channels not being taken down for copyright. We give them links to the DMCA info and just simply do not understand how it works. I hope that this thread will help others understand what all is involved. There are a couple hundred different copyright holders currently on the site from what I understand. It's not a small number. Many channels get caught and some get by. Some copyright holders ban IP on first offense, when another may only ban for 24 hours. It's all up to the copyright companies.

[korfx04]

Another thing everyone could try and i have done this before is to contact lesser known independent film makers. There is a lot of great films out there that rarely get seen by the public and if you ask these people nicely and explain to them what your doing.. they will grant you to show their film free as many times as you would like. Some will even send you a dvd of the film. most will give you a download link. I Have been charged less then $10 for a unlimited license form some, but a lot of them wont charge you anything. i had some that would send me trailers and marketing material for that movie.

I Would post a link to a main source but i dont think thats allowed but if you type Swank Motion Pictures in google it will be the first link, but they dont have an online broadcasting license, i encourage everyone that reads this to contact swank and request an online broadcasting license. Tell them you want to broadcast movies on justin.tv. They will tell you they do not currently have a license for online broadcasting. But i hope with enough pestering that they will work something out in terms with justin.tv and a online broadcasting license that will allow us to buy the license to show movies on justin.tv legally!

[elitedata]

the only complaint that i have, is that the Vobile "fingerprinting" system at the time of this post, appears to be a flawed product.
you can be sure that if you cast something legit long enough, that just happens to trigger the fingerprinting threshold by mistake, that your channel will be suspended.
there appears to be no recourse for the broadcaster when this happens because emails to staff go uninvestigated and unanswered.
since JTV has a "three strikes" policy, should your channel get shut down a few more times because of false positives, again, you can consider your channel permanently banned.
this is a bit scary for some long time members who have aquired alot of tenure on their account.
just like any anti-virus products, there will be false positives, but to permanently ban your account over it with no recourse from JTV is ludicrous.
there will be a certain amount of members that have been wrongly flagged by Vobile, but it will get to the point where even those who are casting content that shouldnt be casted will blame it on Vobile or staff.
you cannot tell me that the minimal staff at JTV will go through each and every complaint about false Vobile flagging and observe the archives to verify who is wrong and who is right ?
at the time of this post, the amount of false positives is small, but it is growing, and i suspect that it will only grown more as JTV grows.
Vobile still needs to be refined to function accurately.

[xchimpyx]

You forgot one thing you can show stuff that is 20 years + up past his copyright which there for is legal to show on a channel.

[curtisal]

Originally Posted by xchimpyx

You forgot one thing you can show stuff that is 20 years + up past his copyright which there for is legal to show on a channel.

Actually it is 70 years past the author's death if the copyright was published after Jan 1. 1978. That is most cases for movies shown on JTV.

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html

[xchimpyx]

personally the DMCA has many flaws in it like copyright on toons. Toons are a work of art and meant to be for viewing purposes but yet DMCA does close down channels for that in their little description it says they recommend you to copyright your toon and also says cartoons are meant to be viewed. Which is kinda funny if you think about it.

Now a days some toons you can't even find the dvd or some did not even go on dvd example: Most of cartoon network works(but you can find some on their website), Some of the classic Toon Disney Shows like Bonkers and Marsupalami.

[chzkildare]

Add me to the list of people that were falsely DCMA'd.

I run a small wrestling chat on Sundays, innocuous in itself. I don't show footage of anything, just me and my face talking. Perfectly legal and what Justin TV was intended for.

Every Sunday when there is a pay per view running, my channel gets flooded by people looking for the pay per view. Despite me saying on the channel title that there was no pay per view there, the bot upon chat login telling them not here, and even up to banning links for spammers.

Frustrating, but part of the territory.

Still... I was DCMA'd by the software. Any other night there is not a problem, just certain days. Email response is almost non-existent, confusing, and not much help. Its a step in the right direction with this thread, but you guys can be doing better.

But still it's frustrating to see legitimate users taken down while spammers, movie channels, and other channels with hundreds of viewers at any given time are not taken down immediately, despite a flagrant violation of copyright. and some other channels are up days on end flagrantly showing able material that JustinTV was not intended for, I'm looking at you entertainment channel in particular.

Being DCMa'd by a company that has no right to do it becomes a legal sticky issue at best, and lays the burden of proof on the innocent. JustinTV needs to do a better job... period.

Still I will broadcast, but every PPV Sunday I always get that sick little feeling in my gut that it might be the last, because no matter what I do to protect my material, likeness, and channel content. It can be taken from me on a arbitrary computer programs whim.

Its punishing and scaring away the legitimate users, and only attracting trolls and people that want something for nothing.

[linuxcooldude]

It should be the responsibility of JTV and not the rights holder to remove DMCA content as its their site. If broadcasters were to submit proof first before broadcasting such content, would eliminate 98% of the issues. If any broadcasters that do so without getting permission first should have their channel shut down.