Video & The Law

Legal Video Guide – Learn tips for important legal issues with online video for commercial use. Here we offer news and insights into copyright infringement, fair use, trademark, right of publicity, right of privacy, defamation, trade secrets, waivers and releases – and how all of this relates to web video and digital media. Here you will find trends, tips, and insights with real attorneys and legal professionals in internet and new media law, intellectual property law, entertainment law.

Anti-Piracy Bill to Make Streaming Pirated Video a Felony

The government is continuing its fight against online piracy, this time attempting to clarify a law to include specific mentions of video streaming. Currently, it's a felony to download pirated content, or to reproduce it... or sell it. But there's no specific language regarding video ...

Time Warner & Netflix Sued For Not Providing Captions On All Video Streams

I have some pretty strong opinions about online video captions--in short, I think every video creator should be using them, and for a variety of reasons. I'm actually working on an entire article about that subject, but couldn't ignore the news announcement over the weekend ...

Online Video Shows Why DCMA & Copyright Law Are Overdue For Reform

Should the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, which has been the basis for rulings around copyright infringement with online video and all other Internet content, have a 2011 makeover? I interviewed New York intellectual property attorney Robert W. Clarida about some of the problems ...

Is My Video Legal? Parody and Fair Use in Online Video: Q&A

When it comes to video marketing, there are two legal defenses in U.S. for using somebody else's copyrighted work in your video without first receiving expressed permission, those being parody and fair use. In my continued "Is My Video Legal?" video series, I feature a ...

Welcome to Show Business: Are You Sure Your Webcast Plays By the Rules?

Producing webcasts or online video series for marketing purposes can be a dream come true for creative types who love working with like-minded people. If you want to use professional talent or popular music within these webcasts, however, it can quickly turn into a nightmare ...

YouTube Is Finally Getting Better At Explaining Fair Use

Fair use is so complex and nuanced, that even most professional video creators would be hard pressed to explain it succinctly and clearly. Copyright law is just... complicated, like most laws. To their credit, YouTube has tried to offer resources on multiple occasions to help ...

The Day Patriotism Defeated Web Video Copyright Watchdogs

There is a huge problem in this country, and it's this: unauthorized use of copyrighted content in online videos. Every day there are millions of videos uploaded to YouTube that contain images and audio that someone else owns. It's illegal, and some companies are going ...

Can I Make Up Stories About Celebrities in My Web Marketing Videos?

What if your idea for a marketing video involved creating a fictional character, telling fictitious stories, about real people? Could you be opening yourself up to a lawsuit, even if the purpose is to be entertaining and humorous? We had one of our own followers ...

Legal Guide to Online Video : What Web Video Publishers Need to Know

I interviewed David Michail, an attorney specializing in media, entertainment, and technology law. David talks with me about some of the important legal issues today for video marketers publishing on YouTube and online video in user-generated content, copyright, defamation, trademark, and otherwise objectionable material.

YouTube Gets Serious About Copyright Violation Education, Revamps Help Center

YouTube has been pretty good about fighting copyright violations. At least, I think so. They've worked hard to remove videos containing unauthorized clips, and they created ContentID to go an extra step in scoping out violations on behalf of certain partners. They even ban user ...

College Bans YouTube Education Seminar: Evan Emory Fallout in Muskegon County

Muskegon Community College appear to have put a lockdown on all campus events with any relation to their former student, Evan Emory, who today started his 60-day jail sentence for posting a video on YouTube. My efforts along with local residents to schedule an educational ...

How to License Online Video & Protect your Ownership: Legal Video Tips

In Part 2 of my 2-part interview with entertainment and media lawyer Gordon P. Firemark, he shares with us about how to get and give proper permissions and licensing for online videos, as well as how to have your attorney negotiate deals and draft contracts ...

Exploring Legal Ramifications with Web Video & How to Overcome Them: Podcast

I interviewed Entertainment Lawyer Gordon Firemark, producer and host of Entertainment Law Update, and author of "The Podcast, Blog, and New Media Producer's Legal Survival Guide." In Part 1 of our 2-part Interview, Gordon shares with me some of the more important legal issues today ...

Exclusive Evan Emory Video Interview – "I Don't Feel Like I'm A (YouTube) Criminal"

Emory Emory gives a webcam interview to ReelSEO, and shares new information about his own YouTube debacle that got him convicted of a felony charge and 60 days jail time. Emory apologized for his actions as deceitful and wrong, and says he wants to make ...

Can I Do That On YouTube? Copyright Law & Posting Video

Websites all over the Internet are inviting you to link and embed your YouTube video on blog sites, "share" it with Facebook friends, or "tweet" it to your Twitter followers. But what are the legal limitations on what you can share and where you can ...