Really irritating news. Like Viacom needs the money.  ::)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070313/ap_on_hi_te/viacom_youtube_lawsuit

i've been thinking this whole youtube thing is too good to last. it really IS jsut flagrant wholesale copyright infringement. i figure most companies shouldn't care but if they do, they certainly have a legal right to sue, even if it sucks for us.

That's not good.

This really sucks. I started using YouTube over a year ago, just before it became huge. Alot of my favorite things to watch from back then(like full episodes of tv shows and the like) are almost totally gone, and I'm sure that before its over pretty much all the cool stuff will be :(

So everyone moves on to MySpace video or Photobucket. :D

It was only a matter of time ::)

I think I can live without MTV and VH1 clips on youtube.

It was only a matter of time ::)

I think I can live without MTV and VH1 clips on youtube.
but... all my 70s sitcoms and RV commercials!!!!

actually, i don't think anyone's gonna sue over those.

Viacom sucks ass.  I feel like strangling that deep voiced dude that says "Viacom"

I suppose youtube.com was too good to be true, like Napster was and other various file sharing websites. The thing is though, youtube.com is mostly stuff that people post for novelty. There are whole episodes of shows and stuff, but I mean, it's not like we're downloading this stuff fervently and adding it to our collections and then ripping them and giving them to somebody else. The quality on there is hardly worth watching most of the time. It's too bad because there's stuff on there that SHOULD be on the TV, rather than the crap we're forced to watch half the time. Can't they just let us be  ;D

Can't they just let us be  ;D


Sure!  For the low low introductory price of $19.95...

Sure!  For the low low introductory price of $19.95...


To hell with that...  ;D

Sure!  For the low low introductory price of $19.95...


That's highway robbery.  If YouTube ever does become a pay site, it won't last

I suppose youtube.com was too good to be true, like Napster was and other various file sharing websites. The thing is though, youtube.com is mostly stuff that people post for novelty. There are whole episodes of shows and stuff, but I mean, it's not like we're downloading this stuff fervently and adding it to our collections and then ripping them and giving them to somebody else. The quality on there is hardly worth watching most of the time. It's too bad because there's stuff on there that SHOULD be on the TV, rather than the crap we're forced to watch half the time. Can't they just let us be  ;D


Totally agree. I think as long as it's merely for viewing purposes, there's nothing wrong with it. That's what separates it from, say something like Napster. Viacom is just greedy, but that's hardly news.

As I've said before: it's the older, rare material you can't otherwise find easily or at all, that I'd like to see protected. Such as '80s music videos, commercials, talk shows, vintage AL-TV clips from Weird Al, and just basically anything else I haven't seen in years. If anything, this only has a positive impact, because having it easily available often attracts new fans since they may have not been exposed to it otherwise (yes, I read the comments section all the time, which are kinda mini message boards). ;)

In an indirect way, it's like today's version of what MTV was in 1981-'83.

I can understand current, profitable shows that are easily available elsewhere not being allowed. Same with older shows in syndication or available on box sets, since those are potential sales lost. But leave the retro stuff alone, lol.

P.S. You brought up another good point I hadn't thought of - the quality is usually average at best, and not that "tradable" - half the time, it's crappy quality from some old VHS tape somebody probably recorded on a 2-head VCR back in the day. ;D

As I've said before: it's the older, rare material you can't otherwise find easily or at all, that I'd like to see protected. Such as '80s music videos, commercials, talk shows, vintage AL-TV clips from Weird Al, and just basically anything else I haven't seen in years. If anything, this only has a positive impact, because having it easily available often attracts new fans since they may have not been exposed to it otherwise (yes, I read the comments section all the time, which are kinda mini message boards). ;)

that's like me! i post really obscure stuff on youtube and hardly anybody watches it, but the people who do send me messages how much they appreciate it, cuz they remember it from back in the day or whatever. and it would suck if some company cracked down on that cuz they thought it might cost them a $2 rental of "meatballs 2."

get this... i actually DREAMED last night that a bunch of my youtube vids got cracked down on for terms of use violations. so never let it be said i didn't care about this issue. lol.

that's like me! i post really obscure stuff on youtube and hardly anybody watches it, but the people who do send me messages how much they appreciate it, cuz they remember it from back in the day or whatever. and it would suck if some company cracked down on that cuz they thought it might cost them a $2 rental of "meatballs 2."

get this... i actually DREAMED last night that a bunch of my youtube vids got cracked down on for terms of use violations. so never let it be said i didn't care about this issue. lol.


;D

I actually have had dreams like that before, I guess it's in your subconscious enough for it to seep into your thoughts, lol.

On a serious note though, since the last big yanking of videos when Viacom first cracked down about a month ago, I've noticed lots of them have be re-uploaded. However, it's from the record companies, so it seems to be more the unauthorized "personal" copies they're cracking down on. I can live with that, as long as the same stuff is up there, I could care less where it comes from (even though it is kinda cool to see a retro VH1 or MTV bumper on top of it).

For me it's a mix of rediscovering "back in the day" stuff, as well as new things I've come to like, so it's ideal for someone like me who is on both ends of it. They've really potentially ruining a once good thing. I hate to overrate this comparison, but to equate the early MTV thing again, it could also be a tool not just for repopularizing older stuff, but for up and coming performers to get exposure.

I've debated copyright issues elsewhere on these boards, but my question is this: who actually owns the copyrights to the clips posted on YouTube? ISTM the artists themselves would hold a majority of the copyrights: after all, they are the ones spending the money making the videos, not to mention the recording, songwriting and instrumental tracks.

If Viacom would actually run a decent music network... (bites tongue)... nevermind.

Viacom should feel threatened: I'd rather d/l stuff from YouTube all day long than watch Viacom's generally  sh***y programming. I'm 31. MTV/VH1/etc. died for me years ago. The ONLY way to see older video clips is through YouTube.

Maybe if Viacom didn't turn everything it touched into a big steaming pile of dog logs YouTube wouldn't be nearly as popular as it is.

I've debated copyright issues elsewhere on these boards, but my question is this: who actually owns the copyrights to the clips posted on YouTube? ISTM the artists themselves would hold a majority of the copyrights: after all, they are the ones spending the money making the videos, not to mention the recording, songwriting and instrumental tracks.

If Viacom would actually run a decent music network... (bites tongue)... nevermind.

Viacom should feel threatened: I'd rather d/l stuff from YouTube all day long than watch Viacom's generally  sh***y programming. I'm 31. MTV/VH1/etc. died for me years ago. The ONLY way to see older video clips is through YouTube.

Maybe if Viacom didn't turn everything it touched into a big steaming pile of dog logs YouTube wouldn't be nearly as popular as it is.







Agreed.  Except far fewer artists than you might think actually own the rights to their old videos.  Viaco does suck.  I'm several years older than you, my friend, and Viacom has totally sucked since the late '80s.  "Beavis & Butt-head" was the last cool program on MTV.  Maybe the "Daria" spinoff.  Those were the only MTV programs I watched in the '90s.  I used to watch "120 Minutes" up until about '91.  The problem with "120 Minutes" was more that "alternative music" totally sucked by '91, and then they put that bald jerk up there...

Hey, now!  I was just remembering the time John Cougar Mellencamp's "Little Pink Houses" was popular.  MTV did a promo in which they took a little house, painted it pink, and raffled it off.  Imagine that?  A little pink house!  Nowadays it's "Cribs," featuring 22-year-old no-talent rappers and their 100 room palaces.  It's all "I'm rich, biatch!" (and I don't mean Dave Chapelle!)

It's like Tia was saying, I don't use YouTube to download Jon Stewart or "South Park."  I use it to watch odds 'n' ends from times gone by from which neither the media outlet nor the sponsors are even trying to profit.  YouTube enabled me to watch the "Ayd's" diet commercials and Project Planet P's "Why Me?" video.  I use the latter as an example because Planet P got deleted for "sharing use violation."  Sharing?  The corporate overlords weren't even selling that video!  Before "YouTube" you'd have to find some geek who recorded "Why Me" on VHS back in 1983 and pay his price if you wanted to see the video.  Gimme a farking break!

A lot of this stuff should be in the public domain, like the old "Flash Gordon" serials from the '30s or something!
:P

Several videos I used ot have saved in my favourites have now been deleted due to terms of use violation.  All these great music videos from the 80s that I either haven't seen in a long time, or never saw before, I will now never get to see.  By removing the videos, Viacom is basically taking away a piece of my childhood >:(


Hey, now!  I was just remembering the time John Cougar Mellencamp's "Little Pink Houses" was popular.  MTV did a promo in which they took a little house, painted it pink, and raffled it off.  Imagine that?  A little pink house! 

The woman who won that house in the contest, sold it almost right away for a big profit.  lol

The woman who won that house in the contest, sold it almost right away for a big profit.  lol



Actually, the original house was bought sight-unseen near a toxic waste dump, and they had to buy the woman a new house because she obviously....wasn't going to be living in that one.

Heh heh!  I'm surpised anybody else remembers the litle pink house!  I forgot about the toxic waste dump, "but ain't that America?"
Goes right along with JCM's style of irony!
:-\\

Heh heh!  I'm surpised anybody else remembers the litle pink house! 


Around the time of MTV's 20th anniversary....the one they cared about....they had a special 2-hour program about the history of MTV and whatnot, and during the part of the show that mentioned the special promotions the station put on in the early days to get viewers involved, they discussed the "Pink House".

What you guys need to do is go to http://keepvid.com/ and download the videos onto your hard drive as .flv files.  Then download a free viewer and then you can watch them whenever you want. 

^ Link wouldn't open. 

What software do I have to install to download .flv files and is it a safe format (regarding spyware, viruses, and whatnot). 

One thing Viacom might employ is a scare tactic.  Catch a few downloaders, fine them a zillion dollars, and threaten them with prison sentences.  That's what they did with the file sharing services such as Napster.

I see warnings on posters from the OIT office on campus about all the bad things that can happen to you if you violate intellectual property laws.

Scare tactics don't scare away everybody, but they could make a big dent!