Understanding Capitol Records v. Vimeo

Vimeo killed the YouTube star...

Vimeo LogoWhat happens when you combine pre-1972 sound recordings, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and some infringing uploads on a video site? A bit copyright mess, that’s what.

In this video we take a look at the case of Capitol Records v. Vimeo, a lawsuit that looks at all of those things and much, much more.

It took a strange set of facts to create this case and the ruling from the Second Circuit is certainly interesting to any copyright nerd. However, the entire history of how we ended up here is beyond convoluted and, while I try to break it down in this video, it’s clearly far more than can be covered in a mere 11 minutes.

Still, I try to make sense of it all as we look at the history of this case, which starts all the way back in 1909, and figure out how we got in this mess. Most importantly, I’ll try to make sense of what the latest ruling means for YouTube, SoundCloud and similar hosts.

Needless to say, this one is a bit of a slog but it’s an important mess to get through and, hopefully, this video will help you make sense of it all in as little time as possible.

 

 

 

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