Any experience about copyright of 3rd parties you use in your videos/performances?

Hej there,
any experience about copyright of 3rd parties’ video material you use in your videos/performances?

i wonder, what about using video material from 3rd parties, for example from holywood movies, or youtube stuff? i never thought it would be a problem if I change all the stuff with my video synths in quite a way like scaling, colouring, moving, as its so much different from the original stuff it has become an new one. but im not that shure anymore…

this is about your personal experiences. did you ever face problems (like a lawyer), or you had to do anything like get a permission from the movie makers in order to perform your stuff?
this is definitely some grey area, isnt it?!
for example if you use some video materials from lets say nasa, as you do a documentary about space you wanna show to the public, you have to get a permission from nasa, thats for shure.

lots of us perform under the radar anyway…but you never know :stuck_out_tongue:

grettings and stay healthy!

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Unless you do professional work for high profile people (well-known band or something) or get famous yourself, you can probably functionally ignore copyright in relation to video sampling (as long as you are processing/altering the footage). That doesn’t mean you won’t be violating it (the rules for what constitutes “transformative” fair use are pretty narrowly conceived and are related more to the intended message of the works in question rather than formal transformation), but it will not likely be a problem.

You’re much more likely to run afoul if you try to upload a video somewhere that uses copyrighted music/audio, because that is super easy for them to scan for.

Copyright laws are currently pretty stupid and generally protect big corporations from individual artists way more than the other way around, so I wouldn’t feel too bad about not 100% following them. Maybe just always remember to punch up rather than punching down? (Stealing from corporation: morally okay! Stealing from another artist: total dick move!)

As far as using clips in a documentary video, you actually have a bit more legal leeway because it is slightly easier to claim fair use for educational/academic purposes (this is how Los Angeles Plays Itself — a documentary composed 100% of clips from other movies — can legally exist).

NASA in particular, since you bring it up, is itself an interesting case since, because it is produced by the U.S. government, their footage is generally in the public domain — and so you are free to use their stuff however you want (with a few minimal restrictions). Bring on the space footage!

I should probably note: I am based in the U.S. (though most copyright law is similar internationally these days because of treaties) and also not a lawyer. Just have been interested in copyright as a subject for a long time.

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Every video I’ve posted that has footage from OG Star Trek has been removed due to copyright infringement. I use alot of 3rd party video sources and I’ve found that if you replace the audio and if your video has been modified enough that the computer algorithms have a difficult time recognizing the material.

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ah thanks. yeah thats basicly my mindset too.youre definitely right, saying better punching up than down, hehe!!
regarding germany i found a thing called “germania 3 doctrin”, its not a law but a principle established by a judgement of a certain case, its like a guidiline for similar cases… that basicly says, you may use original material if therers no financial disandvantag for the originator and that the thing you created is enough of its own, to be recognized as an indepentdet “piece of art” .
besides that you always may use video stuff in sense and the same rules of a quote.
so theres a big grey playground !
also good to know they just remove stuff and thats it. then lets trick the computers!

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also worth noting that copyright expires after a certain time period.

exactly how that works is explained here, for US films (including a list of some movies that are in the public domain) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_in_the_public_domain_in_the_United_States
but in for UK cinema I think it’s simpler, with the rule being copyright lasts until 70 years after the movie was made. That leaves quite a lot of cinema open to be sampled. 1950s B-movies etc, all yours for the taking :wink:

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aah, yeah, of course, and those movies are thought in black and white as well… that suits the colorizer very well i guess!ooh theres a lot to harvest! :boom:

Yes indeed. I spent a while last summer getting clips to work with. I have a folder of DXV3 clips (formatted for use in Resolume) from old b&w B-Movies… you’re welcome to em if you fire me your email :wink: