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Video Plagiarism


Stephen Floyd

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I just found out someone claiming to be a videographer had embedded a video of mine on his web site and was passing it off as his own. I’ve removed the video from my youtube account but am a little concerned about this becoming a habit of his. Is there anything I can do or an authority I can contact to prevent this from taking place in the future? I know youtube allows you to prevent embedding of videos, but doing that would keep me from showing them on my web site as well.

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sure, you do a double credit embed. Not just on the bottom, but one near the top as well, offset also.

 

Don't burn it in at 100% white value, but rather around 30% to 50%. Make sure the info you burn in leads people to one of YOUR sites.

 

Now if the plagrist actually attempts to burn over a new credit over your credit, you will have more proof that you own the video and may be able pursue methods to stop the plagarism and perhaps even recover damages. Of course, at some point you will probably need to contact the person and ask them to take down the video before you pursue any legal actions.

 

If you have a website or blog you may consider creating an article and outing the plagarist. But if you do this, be very careful as to what you actually post. I would not even call the other person a thief or anything that could be slanderous, but simply point out that your own work has ended up, and then name the person and their site.

 

words like "beware", "warning", are solid words to use in your article.

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sure, you do a double credit embed. Not just on the bottom, but one near the top as well, offset also.

 

Don't burn it in at 100% white value, but rather around 30% to 50%. Make sure the info you burn in leads people to one of YOUR sites.

 

Now if the plagrist actually attempts to burn over a new credit over your credit, you will have more proof that you own the video and may be able pursue methods to stop the plagarism and perhaps even recover damages. Of course, at some point you will probably need to contact the person and ask them to take down the video before you pursue any legal actions.

 

If you have a website or blog you may consider creating an article and outing the plagarist. But if you do this, be very careful as to what you actually post. I would not even call the other person a thief or anything that could be slanderous, but simply point out that your own work has ended up, and then name the person and their site.

 

words like "beware", "warning", are solid words to use in your article.

 

Thanks for the advice. I had credits at the end of the video, which he didn't even bother trying to alter, but having them at the beginning would have been a bigger help. And I added a note to my blog so those who search for his web site may find the warning and know better.

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I just found out someone claiming to be a videographer had embedded a video of mine on his web site and was passing it off as his own. I’ve removed the video from my youtube account but am a little concerned about this becoming a habit of his. Is there anything I can do or an authority I can contact to prevent this from taking place in the future? I know youtube allows you to prevent embedding of videos, but doing that would keep me from showing them on my web site as well.

Most online channels have a recourse button where you can report a copyright violation. Youtube and Vimeo both have them. If all else fails you can look up the website's company address and contact them directly to get assistance.

 

As for the majors, they're cracking down on pirates all the time. There's thousands of clips that I used to have favored on Youtube from past TV shows and movies that are now removed due to copyright violations by the people who uploaded them.

 

For what it's worth, the crime you're suffering is more prevalent and committed by users in Asia and East Europe.

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Don't put video of what you've shot on the internet. That is the only sure-fire way to keep others from putting your work on their resume.

 

Put your own written word resume on the internet and if someone specifically asks you for a reel, only then provide an actual "reel" (DVD, tape, etc) or keep your footage on a password-only host and then provide that.

 

From what I know of most working cameramen including myself, we are mostly hired based on word-of-mouth anyway. In fact, for me, if I'm ever asked for a reel after being recommended by someone I know, I think twice about taking the job. If they already know what I've done and they've taken a recommendation, them asking me for a reel is a tell that they aren't very experienced. Reels are just there to validate what they should already know about you. There's no reason to lay it all out there for someone else to "steal."

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Thanks for the advice. I had credits at the end of the video, which he didn't even bother trying to alter, but having them at the beginning would have been a bigger help. And I added a note to my blog so those who search for his web site may find the warning and know better.

 

I mean burned throughout the entire video, up at all times. The key is not have them burned in too brightly. If you check out my stock footage super-8 pages you can see an example on every video. http://8mm-stockfootage.com/

 

Notice the different URL that is burned into the video. ooops. That's ok, I have both URL's, so it's just a 15 dollar a year mistake.

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