MOG

i wonder how all these hidden gems get put up on youtube, but i'm not complaining. in fact, how'd we live without it? heh.

Brittany, unfortunately the way that these get up on YouTube is an intellectual property crime as far as the publishers and copyright holders are concerned. Someone has possession of a source recording (many times purchased at a video store), rips a copy and uploads it. The warnings at the front of the recordings warn not to publish the video under severe penalty, but folks do it anyway.

Once it's up, if the copyright holders notice the upload has happened, they can send a demand to YouTube or other video publishing outfit that they want it taken down under the terms of the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act), a federal law.

If the copyright holder hasn't done the take down notice, one could assume that they have found it advantageous to leave the video up. It lets potential customers know that its available for aquisition. Some of the videos I point at, I actually own a copy of the source DVD myself. The video usually looks much improved on a big screen with a good sound system. A lot of the others I'd buy if I knew where they came from.

If copyright holders are going to leave videos up, they should add a comment which points to a page where the video could be purchased. I'd surely appreciate it, if they would.

I'll try to go back and leave such a comment on my postings that gives this info when I know it.

wow thanks for the info, dluebbert. it would be awfully nice if copyright holders put up links for ya.