Last night I posted a video clip from an episode of the Colbert Report. It was a clip about a water purifying system that, according to it's inventor Dean Kamen, could prevent something like 50% of the world's diseases. I also included commentary about how the media was effectively burying this story on a device that could save millions of lives around the world.
I cross-posted the clip and my text commentary to YouTube. This morning I woke to an email explaining that my video had been removed thanks to an agreement they have with Viacom. Why am I complaining? Because of a little thing called "Fair Use."
"Fair use" is the part of copyright law that allows non-owners of copyrighted material to use said copyrighted material even if it makes the non-owners money without paying anyone royalties or even getting permission. According to Stanford's website (http://fairuse.stanford.edu/…9/9-a.html ), Fair Use is:
"...any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and "transformative" purpose such as to comment upon, criticize or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner."
I suppose including commentary in the description of the video isn't "commentative" enough for Viacom.
I guess I'll have to get a little more obvious with my commentary from now on--perhaps I'll slap footage of me making my point on the front and back of the clip.
The thing that bugs me more than anything is that Viacom has proven my point--the thing I posted wasn't about entertainment or even making money--it was reporting an important, under-covered news story that could have a positive effect on millions of people that also happens to make a Viacom property look good in the process!
All Viacom and YouTube care about is money. Forget about the public good, forget about saving lives.
Capitalism just doesn't get it sometimes.
Mobile post sent by thepete using Utterz.
Orignal From: Viacom Proves My Point About Companies Like Them
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