Welcome
Welcome to Fair Use Tube.org! This is a site for user-generated video creators to learn how to protect their "fair use" rights under U.S. copyright law on video sharing sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, Blip.tv, Metacafe, and Dailymotion. This site is is a compilation of resources and tools relating to copyright law and user-generated video, and is designed to provide amateur video creators with the resources they need to stand up for free speech and successfully challenge abusive takedown notices and content ID filters, which frequently target non-infringing content.
If you are a creator whose video has been blocked, please check out our Guide to YouTube Removals as well as our Fair Use Resources section. Additionally, if you are a video creator wanting to use DVD footage from a movie or TV show for a remix video, check out our new Guide to Ripping DVDs, which describes how to rip DVD footage to a format which you can import into video editing software.
About
This site is maintained by Patrick McKay, a law student at Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia. After successfully fighting takedown notices against his own videos on several occasions, he started this site to spread awareness that it is possible to defend your videos from copyright notices on YouTube. Patrick developed a strong interest in copyright issues in college, and after he graduates from law school in 2012 he hopes to pursue a career in copyright and Internet law, fighting to restore a balance to American copyright law which better protects the rights of consumers and amateur creators, and not just the interests of big entertainment corporations.
Latest News
- November 21, 2011: Wired.com published an article on abuses of the YouTube Content ID system which mentioned FairUseTube.org and quoted a statement by Patrick McKay. The article does a great job of highlighting the problem of companies using fraudulent Content ID claims to hijack ad revenue from videos they do not own the copyright to. You can read the full article here.
- September 6, 2011: The tech and copyright blog TorrentFreak published an article calling attention to the systemic failures of YouTube's copyright system, which included a statement by Patrick McKay and cited our article on the subject. Read the TorrentFreak article here, and our article about the flaws in the Content ID system here.
- July 13, 2011: Tech policy group Public Knowledge announed Patrick McKay's video, "Fair Use School: The Rest of the Copyright Story" as the winning entry in its video contest calling for a response to YouTube's "Copyright School" video. Specifically, Patrick's video responds to YouTube's downplaying of fair use, showing that rather than being nothing more than inaccessible legal jargon which ordinary YouTube users could never hope to understand, it is a valuable tool which video creators can use to defend their videos against takedown notices. For more info, read Public Knowledge's announcement, and the TechDirt article covering the story.
- Nov. 24, 2010: Patrick McKay was recently interviewed about copyright issues and YouTube on Illumination Radio with Mr. Roger, which was broadcast on Motivational Radio (an online radio station) on November 23. You can listen to the interview here (skip to time index 11:00 to hear the interview). You can also download an MP3 of the interview here.
Introduction
Have you ever uploaded a video to YouTube or another video site, only to have it blocked as "copyright infringement?" This could have happened through an automated filter such as YouTube's content ID system, or perhaps your video was removed after the website received a takedown notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Now when you try to view your video, all you see is an error message saying something like "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Warner Music Group." Sadly this is all to common an occurrence in a world where major copyright owners refuse to adapt to the modern era of the Internet and insist on enforcing their copyrights with no respect for the "fair use" rights of citizens to use copyrighted material in non-infringing ways.
Luckily for you, if your video is blocked on YouTube for alleged "copyright infringement," that does not have to be the end of the road. American copyright law gives you a number of ways in which you can dispute copyright claims if you believe your video would fall under the "fair use" exception to copyright, and have your video restored.
This site exists to help users of sites like YouTube to learn how to protect their fair use rights against abusive takedown notices, by giving you the resources and tools you need to know your rights and take action to defend them. Good luck!Getting Started
If you have a video that was blocked by YouTube, please see our Guide to YouTube Removals for instructions on what to do to get your video restored. Please also check out our Resources on Fair Use and User Generated Video section.
Legal Disclaimer
The information on this site is specific to United States federal law and does not apply to other jurisdictions. The material on this site is NOT legal advice and is no substitute for consulting a qualified attorney. This site is meant to offer general legal information only, and its author cannot be held liable for any action you may take in a particular situation. Also be aware that some material on this site is my own personal opinion and I cannot guarantee it would be upheld in a court of law. The issues surrounding copyright infringement are highly complex, and even experienced lawyers often cannot predict the outcome of a copyright dispute with any certainty. Please be aware that the dispute procedures outlined here can have potentially serious legal consequences, and they are not to be undertaken lightly. If you have any doubt about the legality of your material, please consult a qualified attorney before taking any action.
Video Credit: Center for Social Media
Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 February 2012 15:05
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Throughout the debate over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), there has been one refrain commonly invoked by the pro-copyright, anti-internet crowd. “There is no first amendment right to infringe someone’s copyright.” Or “copyright and free speech do not conflict.” Leaving aside the obvious fact that the Supreme Court has repeatedly stated that there IS in fact a first amendment right to make unauthorized use of copyrighted material under the fair use doctrine, the idea that copyright and free speech do not conflict is demonstrably false.
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