You Tube Legality

Post Reply New Topic

In regards to You Tube, if a clip is copyrighted and placed on YouTube without permission of the owner of the intellectual property, is it against the law for the individual viewing it? I was thinking about this, considering the fact that YouTube users have to state that they have permission to use it when uploading, and was assuming this outs the culpability of the individual viewing the clip. Was I correct in this reasoning? I ask because we are doing a lot with this in my Asian Cultures class, and talking about different world views on intellectual property. Thanks!

The responsibility lies primarily with the person uploading content illegally, but someone who knowingly accesses illegal/copyrighted works on Youtube or anywhere else is also culpable.

This was where the main part of the debate was in school - what defines knowingly and where fair use ends when someone posts something that clearly states that they do not own something, and would remove it if the owner of the copyright requested it.