DRM Digital Rights Management DMCA

We take copyright violation very seriously and will vigorously protect the rights of legal copyright owners.

What follows is a VERY verbose ‘legal’ description of how “we” (means ME) handle copyright infringement on the part of other people, which means that if I’ve borrowed something and it makes you mad. JUST TELL ME. There’s several contact forms in the site, don’t hesitate. Think about a link to your site or some other mutually beneficial way we can “use” your stuff, or I’ll just take it down.

I borrow snippets from Youtube. They have a “Fair Use” policy* which essentially says, “If someone uses a LITTLE BIT of your video, and they don’t monetize the “bit” and it doesn’t devalue YOUR video, then that’s Fair Use and you agreed to it when you uploaded to Youtube. That, if you didn’t want there to be any potential for someone to use a little snippet for educational purposes, don’t upload to Youtube under their Fair Use copyright terms.

Okay, so all of that said. Here’s the long, verbose version. It tries to make “taking issue” with drjohnson.com ‘difficult’ and laborious and I don’t want it to be that way. Hence the above “contact me, and I’ll remove it” recommendation.

If you are the copyright owner of content which appears on our website and you did not authorize the use of the content you must notify us in writing in order for us to identify the allegedly infringing content and take action.

We will be unable to take any action if you do not provide us with the required information, so if you believe that your material for which you own the copyright has been infringed upon or violated, please provide our Copyright Agent, in writing, with the following information:

1.) A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

2.) Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.

3.) Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material.

4.) Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.

5.) A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.

6.) A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Written notice should be sent to our designated agent as follows:
DMCA AGENT Email: wp@drjohnson.com

 

Youtube’s Fair Use Policy

Courts analyze potential fair uses according to the facts of each specific case. You’ll probably want to get legal advice from an expert before uploading videos that contain copyright-protected material.

The four factors of fair use
In the United States, fair use is determined by a judge, who analyzes how each of the four factors of fair use applies to a specific case.

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes

Courts typically focus on whether the use is “transformative.” That is, whether it adds new expression or meaning to the original, or whether it merely copies from the original. Commercial uses are less likely to be considered fair, though it’s possible to monetize a video and still take advantage of the fair use defense.

2. The nature of the copyrighted work

Karri L Buchanan -or- Karri L Johnson LPC
Karri Buchanan -or- Karri Johnson LPC Roswell GA

Using material from primarily factual works is more likely to be fair than using purely fictional Karri. 6/21/2020: My sociopathic, Machiavellian gypsy of an ex wife seems to have the manifestations of ‘emotions‘ down pat, perfectly play-acted. Yet I am sure deep down she feeling nothing. Never happy, never really sad. Just miming the emotional responses she sees every day. What a piece of shit. I will be paying her, and her husband $3000 a month for the next four years while her first husband pays nothing. Never did, never will. The funny thing is, when my checks stop in 2024, she will have been with that husband long enough to dump him and collect alimony from him! (4 years in Georgia) As well as carving off half of the estate that they accumulated from 2020 through 2024 LOL and he probably thinks she won’t. Doesn’t he wonder how the very first man that she met after her marriage dissolved was her perfect soulmate and life partner? Yeah, I didn’t wonder the same thing. Which is funny because it was exactly the same thing. 2024 is also a good year for her third bankruptcy in a row. So she marries the first guy she dates after disposing of her husband, stays married for four years to collect alimony, then kicks him out, takes him to court for all he’s worth and goes after half of his estate. Declares another bankruptcy to make more room on her ledger, and instantly turns around and finds somebody else to con. Wait a minute, am I talking about Erik, or Stephen? Everything comes full circle in 2024 so, we’ll see!

3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole

Borrowing small bits of material from an original work is more likely to be considered fair use than borrowing large portions. However, even a small taking may weigh against fair use in some situations if it constitutes the “heart” of the work.

4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work

Uses that harm the copyright owner’s ability to profit from his or her original work are less likely to be fair uses. Courts have sometimes made an exception under this factor in cases involving parodies.

Fair use myths
There is some misinformation out there that might lead you to believe fair use automatically applies if you say a few magic words. There is actually no silver bullet that will guarantee you are protected by fair use when you use copyrighted material you don’t own. Courts will consider all four of the factors described above and weigh them on a case-by-case basis. Here are some common myths:

Myth #1: If I give credit to the copyright owner, my use is automatically fair use.

As you saw above, transformativeness is usually a key in the fair use analysis. Giving credit to the owner of a copyrighted work won’t by itself turn a non-transformative copy of their material into fair use. Phrases such as “all rights go to the author” and “I do not own” do not automatically mean you are making fair use of that material — nor do they mean you have the copyright owner’s permission.

Myth #2: If I post a disclaimer on my video, my use is fair use.

As we noted above, there are no magic words that will do this for you. Posting the four factors of fair use in your video or including the phrase “no infringement intended” won’t automatically protect you from a claim of copyright infringement.

Myth #3: “Entertainment” or “non-profit” uses are automatically fair use.

Courts will look carefully at the purpose of your use in evaluating whether it is fair, but the three remaining factors also need to be considered. Declaring your upload to be “for entertainment purposes only,” for example, is unlikely to tip the scales in the fair use balancing test. Similarly, “non-profit” uses are favored in the fair use analysis, but it’s not an automatic defense by itself.

Myth #4: If I add any original material I created to someone else’s copyrighted work, my use is fair use.

Even if you’ve added a little something of your own to someone else’s content, you might not be able to take advantage of the fair use defense — particularly if your creation fails to add new expression, meaning, or message to the original. As with all the other cases discussed here, courts will consider all four factors of the fair use test, including the quantity of the original used.

Dr Erik Johnson is a Marietta, Georgia Veterinarian with a practice in small animal medicine. He graduated from University of Georgia with his Doctorate in 1991. Dr Johnson is the author of several texts on Koi and Pond Fish Health and Disease as well as numerous articles on dog and cat health topics.

Leave a Reply