Video movies & copyrights.

1. 76

   barrancaposted 16 years ago

   Can anyone tell me why it is that entire movies show up on websites and then are taken down?  I noticed that Vittorio de Sica's movie "Two Women" with Sophia Loren was available to watch on Google Video.  I was thrilled and so put up a hub with a google video link.  Now I discover, after a month or two, the link is down.  I went to google video directly and find that the film is no longer available in its entirety as it was just a while ago.  If putting up movies like this is illegal(I don't know that it is), how is it that a big company like google can do so? Are there expired copyrights on old movies?  Am I doing something illegal in even watching a movie on a website?  Am I doing something illegal if I download it?  How do I know if a copyright has expired?    What about providing a link on a hubpage?   I would appreciate being enlightened by someone who knows the law on this subject.

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2. 73

   relacheposted 16 years ago

   Video sites tend to take movies down when the copyright holders inform them of a violation.  Most of the legal cases against video sites complain the the sites themselves should be doing more to actively monitor their content as it is uploaded and not just respond once a complaint has been made.
   
   If you need to learn more about copyright, your responsibilities and when copyrights expire, I suggest you go visit http://www.copyright.gov/

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3. 76

   barrancaposted 16 years ago

   Thanks Relache....that is an interesting site with a lot of information, but it doesn't answer some of my questions such as, is it illegal for me to view a movie that is accessible on the web(apart from the question if it is unethical)?  Is is illegal to download it?...The answer would seem to be yes to the second question.  What about publishing a link to a illegal movie that someone has uploaded?  If youtube allows the embedding, can assume that youtube is the one at risk, not me?  There are just a raft of questions that have suddenly been occurring to me.  I have always avoided the filesharing sites for music because I have read about their illegality but now I am wondering about utube videos/movies.

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4. 59

   lightheartposted 16 years ago

   I am brand new to the Hub world.  Last night I put two videos on my hub from YouTube and they are gone.  Also I specifically added Joel Osteen's book to my hub and now they are all gone from my Amazon link.
   lightheart

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