Bill S.978

Basil Darkratte

Site Founder
Have you heard of this bill? ( Its waiting for approval in Congress) If passed, it'll be illegal to not only upload Movies and shows, ( streaming too) but Video Games as well, that could also include Online Games. And if you break this law, you'll have to pay a heavy fine ($ 1000 and up) or go to jail. This means no more, Machinama, AVGN, Tobuscus, Rooster Teeth, Spoony, IGN, etc. And most of these people get paid in what they are doing.
If it is passed, ( lets hope not) it'll change everything on the internet. For gamers anyway.
 
OMG! No!!!! Basically all of Youtube would be ruined for me because thats what I normally watch. Gaming Let's Plays. AND my whole channel would be deleted! -.- PLUS I would be extremely bored, not being able to do videos.
 
What?!?!?! i love Rooster Teeth i watch all their videos not just the RedvsBlue episodes im a major fan.No more Machinama?no ><
 
Had it passed the Congress, I would have been guilty of half of my videos as well.

However, below is a good reading to equip us with more knowledge on how that Bill might impact us, common YouTubers. So we do need to be aware of this Bill, but we do not need to freak out about the worse, especially if we do not intend to make money out of our videos.

http://www.openmarket.org/2011/06/3...-sen-amy-klobuchars-s-978-could-mean-for-you/

In my understanding, here are what I could summarize from that link:

1. If we do not create links or embed videos for 'commercial gains', we do not have to worry too much, because merely posting ("for fun") cannot serve as a sole basis that we intend to violate the copyright law.
2. Limited resources of federal prosecutors and other considerations lower the chances of prosecution ("just because they can, does not mean that they will").
3. It is unlikely that the legislation would affect intermediaries like YouTube and others, given that the prosecution must prove the specific intent to infringe; that could be very difficult to establish for those websites.
 
" In other words, the bill is not intended nor does it allow law enforcement to prosecute people who may stream videos and other copyrighted works to their friends without intending to profit from the work of the copyright owner. It also does not allow prosecutors to go after individuals that innocently post links on their blogs to copyrighted protected works."

Seems as if they are just fixing a loophole to correct the misdemeanor charge to a felony charge for ppl selling copyright work online instead of a street corner or basement/alley.

Saying that, I so remember all the ppl that the music industry went after for up/downloading personal music to their pc's. Uh huh, if it can be messed up...the gov't and their legislation will find a way to do it. Nothing is ever as simple as the way it is intended to be.:oops:
 
So, the people who do make a profit from it, like Rooster Teeth, may get in trouble. They should know that making Lets Plays doesn't decrease how much money a company gets, it increase it. When I watched Tobuscus video on Lego Pirates, I actually want to buy the game

3. It is unlikely that the legislation would affect intermediaries like YouTube and others, given that the prosecution must prove the specific intent to infringe; that could be very difficult to establish for those websites.

Im not sure about that, Youtube in the pass had trouble with companies, Like UMG, Viacom, Take 2 games, etc Videos were being removed for games, music etc. This law seems directed to YouTube...
 
So, the people who do make a profit from it, like Rooster Teeth, may get in trouble. They should know that making Lets Plays doesn't decrease how much money a company gets, it increase it. When I watched Tobuscus video on Lego Pirates, I actually want to buy the game

Im not sure about that, Youtube in the pass had trouble with companies, Like UMG, Viacom, Take 2 games, etc Videos were being removed for games, music etc. This law seems directed to YouTube...

FYI, I should have said that #3 on my pointers was a quote, directly from the website link that I posted up there. I should have put quote signs, I apologize.

Look up Misty's second paragraph; it looks like this bill is aimed mainly towards those illegal duplicators. Although I agree with you that YouTube is not free from target, even though it says it may be difficult to build a prosecution against it. I would think it would be very possible to build a case against YouTube producers who clearly gain profit from illegal duplications. As far as my interpretation on pointer #3, it has some truth for us YouTubers who don't gain any monetery advantage.

Bottom line, this is what I would like to believe for us: The bill might pass the Congress and become law, and when it does, we need to be aware that there is a law to be used against us. However, as long as we do our creations for fun, not for commercial purposes, it would not be easy for a Federal prosecutor to build a case against us. Plus, there is not enough man power on their side to do that.
 
As of now, we don't really know what's going to happen: there could be a last second change that could make thing 'better' for us...
 
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