Be Careful Posting Content On Myspace

I don't think its that bad.

Seeing how big companies trust the site with posting their trailers on there, no?

I've seen many big hit movie trailers on myspace, why weren't they afraid to do so?
 
I promise you, the TV shows and major labels that have content on myspace most certainly had additional negotiations outside the standard joe-schmo user agreement.

As for trailers for movies, who really cares if someone steals an advertisement?? That's something they probably hope for. I wouldn't be worried about posting trailers.

One particular part of the standard user agreement that I really don't like is "the right to sublicense" your content.
 
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I think it would be difficult for them to enforce the license without being able to prove that you, as owner of the media, agreed to the license and uploaded the media. Their terms are probably the generic catch all license. If they truely decide to sublicense content then I would hope they would verify the source of the content and the true owner of the material. If not then they are setting themselves up for lawsuits.
 
A watermark is a FANTASTIC idea d-mac.

I might be acting a bit paranoid about this kind of thing, but it never hurts to cover your bases. Most people don't think about flood insurance until they're standing on a roof.

Currently I'm in a fight with 7-11 for using my music as a closing tag in both their radio and television spots. They've been doing it for TWO YEARS without permission and I just found out two weeks ago. They originally purchased a six month buy-out on the song but they just went ahead and kept using it without my permission. They're 7-11! They can afford to pay for those extra two years, so why did they try and slip it under the woodwork? It's because the petty business tactics employed by many large corporations are generally learned on the rise up and they are NEVER forgotten.
 
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HansK said:
I think it would be difficult for them to enforce the license without being able to prove that you, as owner of the media, agreed to the license and uploaded the media. Their terms are probably the generic catch all license. If they truely decide to sublicense content then I would hope they would verify the source of the content and the true owner of the material. If not then they are setting themselves up for lawsuits.
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In the License agreement it states this:

you own the Content posted by you on or through the Services or otherwise have the right to grant the license set forth in this section, and (ii) the posting of your Content on or through the Services does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights or any other rights of any person. You agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owing any person by reason of any Content posted by you to or through the Services.
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So, by that measure they don't need to verify anything. So, basically foregoing you have or may have had.

It never hurts to be safe, so I'm going to start watermarking things. This is kinda sucks because I was hoping to use it as a tool to market my work. Even though the majority of Myspace users aren't my target audience, it's still nice to have that type of reach. Maybe there is a way to use to link to your own personal page without succumbing to the "on or through the Services" part.
 
I think linking would be best. The down side is losing the unlimited bandwith of the Myspace server and the networking tools it provides to promote your films.

I suppose, if on the off chance, Myspace did use your work, they would be limited to using the compressed file you posted on the actual Myspace server. So, if you watermarked it you'd be okay.

The flipside to this, is that Myspace has the right to edit and crop your film if they want, so the watermark would have to be painfully visible to be truly effective.

They state:

"...you hereby grant to MySpace.com, a non-exclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense through unlimited levels of sublicensees) to USE, COPY, MODIFY, ADAPT, TRANSLATE, PUBLICLY PERFORM, PUBLICLY DISPLAY, STORE, REPRODUCE, TRANSMIT, and DISTRIBUTE such Content..."

I use Myspace heavily for promoting my art and it has been a fantastic way of getting stuff out there to the general public. I hate to see this kind of aggressive stance on their part. I am going to have the two entertainment lawyers working on my 7-11 case to look over the MySpace user agreement when they get time. I will post my findings. It might be a while because these guys are always crazy busy.
 
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HowdyDoo said:
I am going to have the two entertainment lawyers working on my 7-11 case to look over the MySpace user agreement when they get time. I will post my findings. It might be a while because these guys are always crazy busy.
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I would definately like to know the outcome of this, as I was cotemplating the same thing.
 
"...and distribute such Content on and through the Services." Seems to me that this may mean that they reserve all those rights only in the realm of the MySpace website, not for tv or any thing like that. No? Yes?
 
I'm pretty sure that's what they mean, but because I'm not a lawyer I have no idea where the loopholes are. Could they place your film on their homepage and slap an Urban Outiftters logo throughout it? Also, what does: "(with the right to sublicense through unlimited levels of sublicensees)" mean?
 
oneinfiniteloop said:
In the License agreement it states this:

So, by that measure they don't need to verify anything. So, basically foregoing you have or may have had.
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Right, that's why I noted that if someone else posted the footage then myspace has no legal binding to your work. In fact, if you find they have used your work then you should be able to legally go after them. That's also why it's in their interest to verify the ownership of any material they decide to "acquire".

In addition to placing the logo/watermark to disuade un-credited use, it also gives myspace a way to locate the owner.
 
I just recently found out that some of my timelapse stuff made it onto myspace. Now I didn't post it there and didn't post a link to my site or anything like that. So how in the hell could they try and own that. To me it sounds like a very BS agreement. I'm sure I don't have anythng to worry about because I never agreed to any of the stuff on their site. But if they did try and use it and in the very unlikely chance that I found out, I would come down on they with both feet.
 
Drew599 said:
I just recently found out that some of my timelapse stuff made it onto myspace. Now I didn't post it there and didn't post a link to my site or anything like that. So how in the hell could they try and own that.
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Exactly. You could probably send them an email indicating your copyrighted material has been posted illegally on their site. If you provide the proof that it's your material then I would think they would remove the material. Otherwise they would be open for a lawsuit. I know youtube removes copyrighted footage when it's reported.
 
what i figured with my pictures is that i put a watermark in it and shrink its original resolution... that way myspace has "the right" to use the watermarked image at a smaller size and i still retain the right of the original image and myspace can not claim that at all seing as the graphic they have the right to is completly different. make sense?
 
idvfilms said:
Great thread! it's funny YOUTUBE has a similar agreement if you read the terms of use.
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it took a while to understand it... but what i got form it is that:

"You tube" gets a "person" (such as you and me) to upload videos to their server, and by doing so the "person" states they own the video and gives "you tube" the right to use it and declares they dont hold "you tube" responsible if any legal actions come up.

this way you tube can post what ever they want without getting sued for copyright violoations.

But this kind of an agreement must be illegal? its almost a scam to consumers seing as no one? (99%) of people dont read, nor understand the agreement. what does everyone else think?
 
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