Is embedding movies legal?

[laons]

me and my friends started up a site were we embedded movies ( real movies you see in cinema ) from veoh.com, youtube, google video, stage6 and all other upload sites..

we stopt the site a few months ago because someone said it was illegal.. now my question is.. is it really illegal or is it legal

thanks in advance

 

[danBoT]

it is illegal the only way to make it not illegal is to contact the person(s) who own the rights to the movies and obtain the rights to stream the movies. Just because other sites are doing it don't make it legal or maybe they got the rights.

 

[likepeas]

thats what happened to www.tv-links.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/oct/19/digitalmedia.media

they got arrested for going that.

 

[-AW-]

It is illegal, you're taking money from Copyrighted movies. It's more risky than TV shows, as you hear in the news, people are going to longterm jail time now.

 

[Zilla]

should be safe, I find those site even provide a link to you, and encourage ur embedding their movie...correct?

but be careful, add some comments, make sure people understand u got the movie from other site, and u respect the right of its original owner, even u don't know whom them are, state if original owner feel not suitable, u will remove...but need them provide evidence they really own it...

may be misleading people....so, claim: what I thought is only a fyi, not a suggestion, if u want try, you own ur decision....

 

[allis]

I don't think just a link would ever be illegal. Many sites put disclaimers on warning the linked site is not in their control. It wouldn't make sense to ever make any linking illegal. After all, the other site is not in your control. Perhaps the link was legal when you put the link up, then afterwards they put up banned material. You certainly can't monitor your linked sites 24/7 It would never make sense to make links illegal. But, it would be illegal to put up and host the copyrighted material yourself though. I think it has to do with what you have control of.

 

[obvio]

Any videos that you embed on youtube are usually legal. Illegal movies posted there are eventually removed and the user is banned.

 

[vatsan]

me and my friends started up a site were we embedded movies ( real movies you see in cinema ) from veoh.com, youtube, google video, stage6 and all other upload sites..

we stopt the site a few months ago because someone said it was illegal.. now my question is.. is it really illegal or is it legal

thanks in advance

Well I have been running a site like this for the past 6months and have been quiet successful Do PM me your URL

 

[laons]

hmm.. some say legal others illegal :p i think we might go on but i got one more question..

does it matter in wich country i am? i mean are the laws that what i do is legal/illegal universal or will it be different in my country ( the netherlands ) then for example the U.S.A. ?

 

[danBoT]

hmm.. some say legal others illegal :p i think we might go on but i got one more question..

does it matter in wich country i am? i mean are the laws that what i do is legal/illegal universal or will it be different in my country ( the netherlands ) then for example the U.S.A. ?

Country does matter some countries have no laws that protect content such as movies some have laws that protected the broadcasters of the content. So it would be smart to read up on your local and even some universal laws.

 

[vatsan]

Country does matter. Not for you but where your website is hosted. If you are gonna have your website hosted offshore, say Malaysia or China you will not get into any trouble whatsoever as long as you dont embed some Malay or Chinese video. American English Laws do not stand good in these countries.

I can give you space on my offshore server if you want.

 

[simon johnson]

This is a legal question, best left to lawyers to answer. To me it sounds dodgy and I would recommend against it.

 

[Sakura]

me and my friends started up a site were we embedded movies ( real movies you see in cinema ) from veoh.com, youtube, google video, stage6 and all other upload sites..

we stopt the site a few months ago because someone said it was illegal.. now my question is.. is it really illegal or is it legal

thanks in advance

Well think about man, they made a movie which they are making profit of, and practically you just stream their videos online, without permission, rights, or ownership.

Of course its illegal, most people should know its the same as downloading movies online free without paying.

your site is practically supporting warez, and warez is always hurting someone who actually developed it.

Its just my opinion though.

 

[labrocca]

Maybe you should read this more carefully for those that think links are harmless.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/oct/19/digitalmedia.media

Embedding illegal videos from youtube places you in jeapordy just as much as the original uploader of the video. I expect eventually that links to illegal intellectual property will have criminal penalties in most major countries with solid laws.

You have to ask yourself is it worth it? If you start a site that is doomed to be shut down eventually why bother to start it at all? You should have higher aspirations as a webmaster than to be be a pirate that helps other to steal.

 

[Ronald Regging]

Country does matter. Not for you but where your website is hosted. If you are gonna have your website hosted offshore, say Malaysia or China you will not get into any trouble whatsoever as long as you dont embed some Malay or Chinese video. American English Laws do not stand good in these countries.

This is entirely inaccurate. Country does matter, but hosting your site offshore alone will not protect you from the laws of your own country. If I live in the US and run an illegal site hosted on a server in China, this does not somehow negate my criminality. Even if it is perfectly legal in China, I am still breaking the laws of my own country, to whom I must answer.

 

[Sakura]

Country does matter. Not for you but where your website is hosted. If you are gonna have your website hosted offshore, say Malaysia or China you will not get into any trouble whatsoever as long as you dont embed some Malay or Chinese video. American English Laws do not stand good in these countries.

This is entirely inaccurate. Country does matter, but hosting your site offshore alone will not protect you from the laws of your own country. If I live in the US and run an illegal site hosted on a server in China, this does not somehow negate my criminality. Even if it is perfectly legal in China, I am still breaking the laws of my own country, to whom I must answer.

I agree with you, although I'm sure Vatsan just misunderstood is all.

Hosting the website offshore only protects the site, but not your action. If you do it int he U.S., the law still affects you, thus affecting the site sooner or later , will have to come down.

 

[PowerUp]

Thought I'd share a comment I heard from one of my seniors some years ago.

My senior has a friend who sometimes beat the traffic light. My senior told him, "This is illegal." His friend replied, "It's illegal only if you get caught."

:hehe:

 

[Zilla]

Country does matter. Not for you but where your website is hosted. If you are gonna have your website hosted offshore, say Malaysia or China you will not get into any trouble whatsoever as long as you dont embed some Malay or Chinese video. American English Laws do not stand good in these countries.

I can give you space on my offshore server if you want.

China also have law again these illegal usage of picture/video, recently, there is a local news, that company "A" pay penalty to a picture company "B", just because "A"'s site use "B"'s picture w/o permission, even "A" site was designed by a 3rd party "C"..and "C" actually using other's picture...

just in case u misleading people offshore those illegal conents to China...China even more strict on website administration, that's why most my friends alway host the site in US...