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Can news networks legally air YouTube clips live without the original users permission?
Anonymous1 views4 answers
I'm unaware of most of the YouTube guidelines, but are news networks allowed to air clips from YouTube without the written permission or authorization of the owner?
(I do hear the term fair use a lot - but if the original users who created the clips does not agree is it then considered illegal)
For example say you own a YouTube channel which has 100s of clips which you own the rights to, could a news network air your footage on live tv for whatever reasons without your permission.
(Could they be sued, and what legal actions could you take)
Q: "... are news networks allowed to air clips from YouTube without the written permission or authorization of the owner?'
R: Yes, so long as airing the clip is for the purpose of news reporting -- which is very, very broadly defined. When doing a "fair use" analysis it is irrelevant what the copyright owner thinks of the purported fair use of the work. Not having to bother with what the copyright owner thinks is one of the intended purposes of having a fair use doctrine in the first place.
Sometimes news outlets pay money to acquire physical possession of film footage. But if they can lawfully procure that footage in other ways then paying is not necessary. Under the fair use doctrine downloading a clip from YouTube for news reporting purposes is one of those lawful ways.
News networks cannot legally air You Tube clips unless their use of the clips qualify as fair use. Certainly if a clip is newsworthy, there is a substantial likelihood that it would be fair use for a news network to air at least a portion of the clip, But not every clip is newsworthy. Further, many courts hold that fair use does not allow a network to show an entire video or program, but only so much of the "clip" as is necessary to report the news. For example, if a famous pop singer (say Madonna) loaded a music video onto her You Tube artist page, that might be considered big news---her fans want to know that she made a new music video available on You Tube. A news organization might want to report on this big news, and it might use a portion of the music video to illustrate the "news". Typically in such circumstances news organizations play a clip of no more than 30 seconds (although there is no hard and fast rule). But if the news organization played the entire video, most courts would hold that this would violate copyright law and would not constitute fair use. Indeed, it would be unusual for the fair use doctrine to permit a news organization to broadcast or republish an entire video clip taken from You Tube. Note that under You Tube's terms of use, the person who posts a video onto You Tube retains ownership of the copyright covering the video. You Tube users are permitted to "share" You Tube videos with each other using the sharing and embedding functions provided by You Tube. But they are not permitted to download a You Tube Video, and rebroadcast or republish it in a manner that falls outside of the sharing and embedding functions provided by You Tube. Thus, a news network or news aggregation service can broadcast or republish a You Tube video only if it is protected by the Fair Use doctrine.
This means that before any such broadcast or republication of a video found on You Tube, the news organization must make an informed judgment as to whether the fair use doctrine applies. Most news broadcasters have standard practices and policies---developed by lawyers---concerning how they use video clips so as to fall within the Fair Use doctrine. Even so, on many occasions--sometimes on a daily basis--news broadcasters review their proposed use of videos with their in-house lawyers before airing them. The lawyers who advise clients in this area often develop "fair use" expertise based on many years of practice and experience because ultimately, the client must depend on the judgment of the lawyer on such matters. Even so, fair use often involves difficult judgment calls, and it is common for news organizations to be sued for copyright infringement when they use more of a video than is necessary to illustrate their news stories.
Different judges on different days in different states may come to different conclusions based on different facts. However, you will receive quite consistent advice from experienced copyright lawyers in different cities on different days given the same facts. These answers show that don't they?
News networks have wide latitude in copying minor portions of clips for new reports. Often a YouTube clip is the best visual for their story. News networks are generally pros and know from experience how much is too much and take less than that. You could sue them, as others have done, but you will likely spend lots of money and lose. Just watermark your clips so you get some free advertising, as you are not going to be able to stop a competent news network from using your YouTube clips and suit is going to be a waste of time and money.
