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Youtube in general is not liable for copyright infringement on content posted by users. People love to talk about standing up to legal bullies, but lawyers are

Youtube in general is not liable for copyright infringement on content posted by users. People love to talk about standing up to legal bullies, but lawyers are expensive. Copyright law is extremely friendly to plaintiffs and generous in terms of damages: https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html https://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html CBS would totally show up in a small town if they knew that they had a good chance of winning. Their lawyers are already on salary. It doesn't cost them anything and they will get a lot of money. They may also just try to get the venue changed. In fact, it is their duty to enforce their copyright claims, or they risk their ability to protect their IP in the future. So, it's unwise to do the equivalent of coating yourself in butter and serving yourself up to be devoured by Viacom IP attorneys. In the 2019 case of Epic Games, Inc. v. Lucas in which a 14 year old boy counter-claimed a copyright claim filed by Epic over the defendant's posting of Youtube footage involving cheats in Fortnite. While the case did not go all the way, Epic did successfully extract a punitive settlement from the defendant. If he had not counter claimed, the lawsuit might have never happened, or they could have settled it before it was filed.

darkarmani 7y ago
> In fact, it is their duty to enforce their copyright claims, or they risk their ability to protect their IP in the future. That's true of trademark, but why do you think that is true of copyright?
- j-c-hewitt 7y ago
  Unlike trademark, you do not lose your copyright registration for failure to enforce it. However, it makes it a lot easier for prospective defendants if you have a track record of ignoring infringements. Your registration is not in danger, but your ability to win as much as possible might be. Even works with no identifiable copyright owner are not necessarily considered 'abandoned,' which creates a lot of interesting issues, such as in the case of Google Books: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1214&context=dltr https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article... The main thing with copyright is not like the risk of trademark dilution: it's just that not enforcing it makes it easier for defendants to bargain and argue for lighter penalties.
Keverw 7y ago
Sounds like that lawsuit with Epic Games was more about him selling the cheats instead of the videos. Plus I heard people spend real money in Fortnite and can even win real money with the Esports. Don't really follow that game much though.

darkarmani 7y ago

> In fact, it is their duty to enforce their copyright claims, or they risk their ability to protect their IP in the future. That's true of trademark, but why do you think that is true of copyright?

j-c-hewitt 7y ago
Unlike trademark, you do not lose your copyright registration for failure to enforce it. However, it makes it a lot easier for prospective defendants if you have a track record of ignoring infringements. Your registration is not in danger, but your ability to win as much as possible might be. Even works with no identifiable copyright owner are not necessarily considered 'abandoned,' which creates a lot of interesting issues, such as in the case of Google Books: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1214&context=dltr https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article... The main thing with copyright is not like the risk of trademark dilution: it's just that not enforcing it makes it easier for defendants to bargain and argue for lighter penalties.

Keverw 7y ago

Sounds like that lawsuit with Epic Games was more about him selling the cheats instead of the videos. Plus I heard people spend real money in Fortnite and can even win real money with the Esports. Don't really follow that game much though.