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.

Hitler Memes On YouTube Aren’t Legally Protected Parodies

ReelSEO's Grant Crowell talks with intellectual property attorney Mark Rosenberg, about why the multitude of video clips on YouTube taking a scene from Constantin Films' 2004 film, Der Untergang ("Downfall"), don't meet the criteria for fair use under U.S. law.

IP Extremism In Action? - YouTube To Remove Hitler Memes

Sometimes the world just seems upside-down.  Case in point:  YouTube has begun the daunting task of removing all the clips of the movie Downfall (the now-infamous Hitler-getting-mad clip) due to a copyright claim from Constantin Films. That is exactly the opposite of what most online ...

Improving Online Video Creative Use and Monetization

ReelSEO's Grant Crowell asks Harvard Law Professor and political activist Lawrence Lessig, what technical and legal platforms best balance the protection of online video copyrights versus creative expression by others?

Remixing Copyrighted Video – Fair Use or Infringement?

ReelSEO's Grant Crowell asks Harvard Law Professor and political activist Lawrence Lessig, what's in it for businesses to be more lax in their enforcement of copyrighted video based on fair use culture?

Legal Online Video and Fair Use - Sharing Versus Ownership

ReelSEO's Grant Crowell interviews interview Dr. Shay David, VP of Business and Community Development and co-founder of the open source video platform and network Kaltura, and founding member of the Open Video Alliance, about what he considers to be the most important legal issues with open standards and technologies with online video today.

Defamation and Libel In Online Video – How To Protect Yourself

Grant Crowell of ReelSEO answers this week's submitted legal video marketing question: Is it legal for someone to make a video to purposely ruin a company or person's business reputation? Learn how to best handle and protect yourself from defamatory online video, legally and professionally.

Are Public Figures “Fair Use” In Online Video Marketing?

ReelSEO's Grant Crowell interviews intellectual property and e-commerce attorney David M. Adler on what's legally safe to feature a video of a public figure for your own business purposes.

LA Filmmakers Tackle Ambitious Recreation of Landmark Gay Marriage Trial On YouTube

A few weeks back, the U.S. Supreme Court struck a blow to online video when they ruled that the Proposition 8 court case in California could not be broadcast on YouTube.  I was disappointed.   And it seems like I wasn't the only one. Two Los ...

Legal Video Marketing Question: Publicity Rights Vs. Right of Privacy?

In their new legal video marketing series, ReelSEO's Grant Crowell and attorney David M. Adler answers a reader question: "Is it legal for an individual to video record patrons in a restaurant and post it on the Internet?”

Legal Video Marketing News: Are Public Figures Fair Game?

Listen to ReelSEO Grant Crowell's podcast interview with intellectual property attorney Mark J. Rosenberg, as they explore legal issues with featuring an online video of a public figure and using that for commercial purposes?

California’s Same Sex Marriage Trial To Be Broadcast On YouTube - OR NOT

UPDATE: The U.S. Supreme Court has now blocked the trial from appearing on YouTube, claiming it could impact the fairness of the trial.  Bummer.  That pretty much negates everything I wrote above.  I guess we'll have to wait for our landmark broadcast-online court case.

Video Marketing and The Law - What You Should Know

Our attorney colleague Mark Rosenberg was recently published in Affiliate Summit's FeedFront magazine with his article titled “Video Marketing and the Law.” Mark shares what basic proactive measures video marketers should be araware to to avoid common legal pitfalls, including: right of publicity issues, copyrights, licensing, contracts, and receiving proper consent.

“Fair Use” Legal Update – What Online Video Professionals Should Know

ReelSEO's Grant Crowell interviews intellectual property and new media attorney David Adler about recent developments with the popular case today involving the battle between fair use and copyright protection, and what it can teach online video marketing professionals about detecting and preventing clear-cut copyright violations in web video.

Right of Publicity With Online Video – Questions Answered!

Recently we've had some readers asking questions about my recent interview with attorney Mark Rosenberg on “right of publicity” video issues with online video marketing. Questions such as: How can you get permission from large crowds to be in a video? Is the business or venue owner's consent enough or not? How can patrons be made aware of video recording on the premises, that protects yourself? I asked Mark for a follow-up interview to these questions, and now you can read all of his answers here!

Social Media: Sharing, Theft and The Fine Line

I've recently had problems with some of my content being republished without any request for permission, links back to the site or editing of the content. As far as I'm concerned that constitutes plagiarism as they are taking credit for the content, copyright infringement as ...