An Unofficial Guide to YouTube’s Terms of Service

Image from http://www.youtube.com/

The Numbers…

• It is estimated that there somewhere in the region of 150,000 videos uploaded to YouTube daily. (Source: http://www.strangelove.com/blog/2008/05/youtube-statistics/)

• YouTube routinely serves up 1 billion videos views per day worldwide.(source: www.seekingalpha.com)

• YouTube currently ranks fourth in traffic among all websites in the Internet by the survey of Alexa.com with a typical 20% of global internet users visiting YouTube.com everyday. (see http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/youtube.com)

• The following presentation will look at a few of the key aspects of YouTube’s Terms of Service document.

Image from Microsoft Clip Art

• There is a good chance you will have come across this information (or something similar) during your internet use.

• This is a screen grab of what you see when creating a YouTube account.

• By clicking on “I Accept” you are confirming that you have read and agree to all that is contained in three documents

– the YouTube Terms of Service, Google Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy.

• This type of agreement is known as a ‘click-wrap’ contract and has the effect of creating a contract between the user and the website. (George & Scerri, 2007).

Sign me up!

Image from http://www.youtube.com/

• … these three documents you are agreeing to contain about 9,700 words in total and some fairly dense legal terminology thrown in?

• …by simply visiting the website you have agreed to YouTube’s Terms of Service?

– “By using and/or visiting this Website… you signify your agreement to these terms and conditions.” (YouTube Terms of Service)

Did you know..?

Would it be reasonable to assume

that a majority of users would not

have read this information in its

entirety?

YouTube - General Use

• A few points on general use of the YouTube website and Embeddable Player…

• You are restricted from:

– Selling access to the website

– Using the website as a primary purpose of gaining advertising and subscription revenue.

– Using ‘spiders’, ‘bots’ and such software to harvest information from YouTube.

– Accessing YouTube content through any other technology other than the website or embeddable player or as authorized by YouTube.

• You can:

– Upload original material to promote a business or artistic enterprise.

– Use YouTube’s embeddable player on your blog or website as long as you do not alter it or use it as a primary means of gaining advertising revenue.

(So, in other words – Don’t use YouTube to compete with YouTube!)

Privacy Issues

• By using or visiting the YouTube website you also signify agreement to YouTube’s privacy policy.

• You are responsible for the activity that occurs through your account and YouTube will not be liable for losses caused by unauthorized use of your account.

• What information does YouTube collect about your activities?

– YouTube may record information about your usage of the site, e.g. what channels, groups and favorites you have subscribed to, who you communicate with, what you watch, what you choose to display about yourself as well as how you use the site…

– If you are logged in through a registered account, this information can also be associated with your account. (YouTube Terms of Service)

• YouTube will also use a range of information such as cookies, web beacons, IP addresses and usage data to provide targeted advertising.

(YouTube Privacy Notice)

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• YouTube is all about the content, so as the user who submitted an original video you retain the copyright for your content…

• …but by submitting content you are giving YouTube the right to use the material in any form they desire.

– “a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty free, sub-licensable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display and perform… in any media formats and through any media channels.” (YouTube Terms of Service)

• Additionally, you agree that YouTube is able to hold a server copy of the content in perpetuity, even if you decide to delete your account.

Your Content…

Know your [Copy] rights

• YouTube facilitates the easy upload of user generated content. As part of the Terms of Service, you are agreeing that content you submit is not copyrighted.

• A copyright infringement occurs in the context of uploading a video to YouTube, “where the person uploading it, without a license will be infringing the copyright owner’s right to communicate… and the right to make a copy of the film and communicate it to the public.” (Obrien & Fitzgerald, 2006)

• YouTube deals with copyright infringements with a ‘provide notice-and-takedown’ procedure. If you are a copyright owner who believes that content is infringing on your copyright the course of action is to notify YouTube’s copyright agent.

• Counter-notice can be provided if you as the user believe that the content in question is not an infringement of copyright.

Content put to the test…

• However, a degree of confusion remains around copyrighted material and what constitutes an infringement.

• For example, on January 18 2009 at the request of Warner Music, a user submission by Corey Vidal featuring an a capella tribute to the music of John Williams of which Warner’s holds the copyright was taken down. (Sandoval, 2009)

• At issue for the user was not a dispute of who held the rights, it was what part of his video violated copyright law if at all and the lack of communication from the copyright holder on the reasons behind the take-down request. (Sandoval, 2009)

• The video has since been reinstated and can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5_OSsawz4

Image from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5_OSsawz4

Fair Use continued…

• Does YouTube, as the framers of the service, provide the necessary guidelines for what is acceptable with regards to copyright?

• According to the Terms of Service the onus is on the user submitting the content to be fully aware of any possible ramifications…

– “You shall be solely responsible for your own User Submissions… you affirm you own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents, and permissions to use…” (YouTube Terms of Service)

• It is not helpful that users often cannot explain what constitutes fair use of copyrighted content… (Aufderheide & Jaszi, 2007)

• …or that creativity in the form of an amateur remix is held accountable to the same complex regulations as film studios and record companies. (Lessig, 2008).

Image from Microsoft Clip Art

Inappropriate Content

• Finally some notes on inappropriate content…

• By agreeeing to the Terms of Service you are confirming that you are 18 years of age or that you are over 13 years and have parental consent.

• Outside of copyright infringements, YouTube reserves the right to decide whether content is appropriate e.g. pornography, obscene or defamatory material.

• YouTube may terminate a users access for publishing such material!

• Also, you do not have any claims against YouTube for content that you may find offensive or objectionable.

• The site is subject only to Californian court jurisdiction and YouTube does not claim that its content is appropriate in other countries also.

See for yourself!

• My hope is that you have found this information useful in understanding some areas of YouTube’s Terms of Service documentation…

• …however, this is in no way a substitute for your obligation as a user of the YouTube website to have read, understood and agreed to the Terms of Service.

• The relevant documents can be found at:

YouTube Terms of Service - http://www.youtube.com/t/terms

YouTube Privacy Policy - http://www.youtube.com/t/privacy

Google Terms of Service - http://www.google.com/accounts/TOS

• Thanks for viewing and feel free to place a comment!

Image from Microsoft Clip Art

References

Aufderheide, P., & Jaszi, P. (2007). The Good, The Bad and the Confusing: User-Generated Video Creators on Copyright. Retrieved October 24, 2009, from http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/resources/publications/the_good_bad_and_confusing

George, C., & Scerri, J. (2007). Web 2.0 and User-Generated Content: legal challenges in the new frontier. JILT, 2007(2), Retrieved October 20, 2009, from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/2007_2/george_scerri/#sdendnote33sym

Lessig, L. (2008). In Defense of Piracy. Retrieved October 20, 2009, from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122367645363324303.html

O’brien, D., & Fitzgerald, B. (2006). Digital copyright law in a YouTube world. Internet Law Bulletin 9 (6&7), Retrieved October 19, 2009, from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/7505/

Sandoval, G. (2009). YouTube users caught in Warner Music spat. Retrieved October 24, 2009, from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10150588-93.html

YouTube: A Billion Videos Served Daily. (2009). Retrieved October 24, 2009, from http://seekingalpha.com/article/166067-youtube-a-billion-videos-served-daily

YouTube – Privacy Notice. (2009). Retrieved October 18, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/t/privacy

YouTube Statistics from Mike Wesch’s Digital Ethnography 2008. (2008). Retrieved October 18, 2009, from http://www.strangelove.com/blog/2008/05/youtube-statistics/

YouTube – Terms of Service. (2009). Retrieved October 18, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/t/terms