Disney can sue you for YouTube videos

[MM27]

Don't know if this was posted already, but it's an interesting read.
http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/01/19/legal-limbo-disney-could-go-after-you-for-posting-vacation-vide/

 

[Tink888]

Don't know if this was posted already, but it's an interesting read.
http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/01/19/legal-limbo-disney-could-go-after-you-for-posting-vacation-vide/

Interesting. It makes sense to me that they could and possibly would go after people who post videos. It used to be if you wanted to experience Haunted Mansion you needed to buy a ticket and go to the park. With the videos being accessible to everyone now, you only need to click your mouse. Yeah, it's not exactly the same as being there but still......

I'd hate to see them enforce it, I very much enjoy my virtual Disney vacations on youtube courtesy of other people's videos in between actual trips to WDW...........

 

[FireDancer]

This came up on the podcast board a while ago. Disney does own the copyright and performance rights for their rides and shows in the park. Disney isn't going to go after you if you post a small clip of your children enjoying a show or on a ride. What they might take exception to is the posting of a complete ride through. Suing is also not the first course of action. If someone has their content posted on Youtube the first course of action is issuing a take down notice to Youtube. You can then petition Youtube that your video meets one of the fair use doctrines and if they are convinced they will put it back up.

Disney is much more concerned with full ride or show videos then clips of your vacation. I also suspect that it would have to be a very blatant amuse of copyright before they would even get involved. The videos on Youtube are free advertising.

 

[golfgal]

Disney is VERY protective of EVERYTHING they own. A day care in our old town had some small statues of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs in their yard and they got a letter from Disney telling them they had to remove those or they would be sued. This was a small town in the middle of nowhere MN, no idea how Disney found them even. Keep in mind, Disney is bigger than you and has more money than you, why take a chance?

 

[bookgirl]

Hope they don't catch up with Brutewolf. I love his wolfsdance video. He's put up two more. A Branson trip and a christmas review.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Youtube is pretty vigilant about what's posted on their site. My son has put some videos that they've pulled down over possible copyright infringement.

 

[bicker]

Yes: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2376074

What I wrote in that thread was:

The likely reasons why Disney would sue is if someone is making money or gaining notoriety off of a clearly recognizable Disney creation (like the castle), or if something that is recognizable as Disney was presented in a negative light or associated with something salacious or otherwise contrary to Disney's owners' best interests.

One other likely reason is if someone outside of Disney brings a trademark violation to Disney's attention (for any image that includes something that Disney has trademarked). In that case, regardless of the circumstances, Disney has no choice but must take action to protect their trademark. They can use their discretion if they discover the issue internally (as long as they don't keep discoverable records), but if someone external knows that Disney knows that their trademark is being used without permission, Disney has to do something or risk losing their rights.

 

[Duckyiam71]

Disney is VERY protective of EVERYTHING they own. A day care in our old town had some small statues of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs in their yard and they got a letter from Disney telling them they had to remove those or they would be sued. This was a small town in the middle of nowhere MN, no idea how Disney found them even. Keep in mind, Disney is bigger than you and has more money than you, why take a chance?

I work for a LARGE coffee company. A murder took place NEXT door but our name was mentioned once in an article. We had corporate lawyers breathing down our necks within hours of the article being published. Large corporations have their ways of finding ANYTHING out when it concerns their brand. I know it is not the same situation but I was shocked how they found out so fast. I dont know if it was the daycare you were referring to but I remember reading something about this. I thought to myself of all the places I see with Disney stuff around.

 

[FireDancer]

Disney is VERY protective of EVERYTHING they own. A day care in our old town had some small statues of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs in their yard and they got a letter from Disney telling them they had to remove those or they would be sued. This was a small town in the middle of nowhere MN, no idea how Disney found them even. Keep in mind, Disney is bigger than you and has more money than you, why take a chance?

Well, this is a very clear violation of their intellectual property. You can not use their characters to promote a business or in any capacity like you mentioned. It is quite different than posting a vacation video of you child getting an autograph from a character on YouTube.

I believe in the autograph example you would have a fair use claim because your child getting the autograph can be construed as a performance by your child. That would be a question for a lawyer, or at least Google.