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Can i be sued for this?

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xprimer13

Junior Member
Hello, around 6 months back i made an intro for someone on youtube for $20. The transaction went smoothly and i had no problems. Present day the guy i made it for contacted me said it was copyrighted and wanted me to make an new intro for him. I appologised and told him i could not make a new on but i would audio swap it for an uncopyrighted song. I did that and told him to the best of my knowledge that the song i used was not copyrighted. He said that was not good enough, so i asked him to send me a song he was comfortable using. He then told me i needed to call him, which i feel uncomfortable with because he is an adult and im 14 so i asked if we could keep it online. He responded with saying that if he has to take down 100 videos because of the copyrighted song he would sue me for loss of income, Am i at fault for this? I did not use the copyrighted song on my videos but i did provide it to him, personally thinking that the song was uncopyrighted.
some minor notes. I live in Illinois, he lives in Florida, i'm a minor, He has not provided me with any evidence that it truly was copyrighted only that the channel that i used the same intro music had contacted him about it so its not a major corporation.
Any other help?
 


justalayman

Senior Member
not real clear on what you actually did. You said you made an intro but somewhere along the line a song is involved. What do you mean by an intro and, who acquired the song and where did it come from?


He has not provided me with any evidence that it truly was copyrighted only that the channel that i used the same intro music had contacted him
what do you mean the channel that you used?
 

Proserpina

Senior Member
(I sure do miss quincy :( )


This is - or at least it used to be - one of the few areas where minors COULD land their parents in a whole HEAP of trouble.

Despite most contracts being void or voidable when they involve minors, copyright is a different animal entirely.
 

xprimer13

Junior Member
not real clear on what you actually did. You said you made an intro but somewhere along the line a song is involved. What do you mean by an intro and, who acquired the song and where did it come from?


what do you mean the channel that you used?
Ok so this person paid me $20 to make this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXHGQdJTE7M&feature=plcp which i got the music from this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPHsyN9VqWI&feature=plcp as you can tell, my logic being they are a large channel so they would have only used an uncopyrighted song too. Now he says they contacted him about it, and said that if they take down the videos he used the intro i made him. He would sue me for loss of income.
The channel is basically another person they are the second link i provided.
So the big question in this matter is, If i created that intro and he used it... and he gets in trouble can he sue me? I never uploaded it to my channel, he is the one who used it... but i made it.
Thanks for your timely response its important that i know for the response i have to make.
 
Last edited:

justalayman

Senior Member
From your posts, you basically have no understanding of copyrights so:


to start with, every song out there that is not so old the copyrights have expired is protected by copyright. There is music allowed to be used such as those registered with Creative Commons (but still must follow their rules) or music in the public domain (the old stuff).

So, the music you used is copyright protected and the display or playing it by whomever recorded it hold rights in their production of the music. So, without permission, yes, it is illegal to use their music both due to the music itself and the production you used.

Whether the folks on the grandpa channel own the rights or not I have no idea but it is assured you do not own them. If anybody made a demand to take down illegally used music, it is a great idea to do so. That may them willing to not sue infringer.

So the big question in this matter is, If i created that intro and he used it... and he gets in trouble can he sue me?
If you represented it to him the music was legal, yes, he can.

he is the one who used it... but i made it.
so, if you told him the music was legit, he was an innocent infringer. Doesn't get him out of everything necessarily but if he took down the involved videos, unlikely anything will happen to him. Now you on the other hand have a big problem. You are the one that put the music in the video and represented it as legal. You have both contractual issues and copyright infringement issues to be concerned with.

So, what do you do? Learn a lot before you do this again. I suspect you will escape being sued if the guy took down the videos. Since all the guy you made the vid for has against you is a contractual issue and not the copyright issue (unless he gets sued for that), and because you are 14 yo, tell him he shouldn't contract with kids. Send him back his $20 and tell him to return any video material he has that you produced. You get lucky, this time, because you are only 14 but make no mistake, that doesn't get you out of everything.
 

xprimer13

Junior Member
Does it matter if i didn't sign a contract? and i looked back at the conversation and i never guaranteed that it was not copyrighted or anything either. I basically responded to this video with the intro, he paid me i made a few last minute ajustments and that was it.
Here was the conversation exactly
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFDPF3f-__Q&feature=plcp

Me commenting on the video: "I sent you a pm with it"

Me sent link to video (No longer exists)

Him "call me *********"

Basic conversation regarding price and changes to intro.

Me "i need you to do what your going to do to this intro.
Video link no longer exists
you have about 5 seconds to say airsoft talk and i'll do a graphic to match it. this intro was really fun to make and i think it fits your fun crazy style videos"

Next few messages trying to coordinate him saying "Your watching airsoft talk" Audio file.

Me: Final Video Link
Pay pal name
If you ever need another into, background... anything PM me!
Thanks alot.
Also i'm not sure if you want to but if your feeling nice my airsoft channel is TeamGoodGuyz and i will start uploading alot of videos to it this coming airsoft season.

He did not send a response.
 
Does it matter if i didn't sign a contract?
No. A contract can exist between two parties without a formal document being signed. You; however, lack contractual capacity being a minor. You may keep the $20, let him know you're 14 and owe him nothing and there is nothing he can do about it.
 

asiny

Senior Member
To the OP- as the video production company it IS your responsibility to clear any/all rights for material used in ANYTHING you create for a client. There are no ifs- ands- or buts-

Your client was hiring someone to produce an intro video for his channel... you produced an intro using music that you failed to find out if there was copyright on it or not. If your client is forced to take down all of the videos, which may or may not impact him in anyway- yes, you (as the 'hired' company) would be held liable for the impact.

He has already given you an 'out'- create a new intro... preferably without copyrighted music.

As has been referenced- being a minor (and uneducated one too) may be your saving-grace. Take this as a learning experienced that attempting to play 'i can make videos like an adult company' believing that all you do is grab some music, take some video, mash it together with some graphics makes you a video professional... is the exact reason why you are not one and, unless you learn more, will not become one.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Does it matter if i didn't sign a contract?.
You just aren't getting it. What you did was illegal. You put him in an extremely vulnerable position. All of that is due to your lack of knowledge regarding copyright law. Stop breaking the law. It will burn you and depending on what it is, your age may not save you. I just can't be any clearer than that.
 
You just aren't getting it. What you did was illegal. You put him in an extremely vulnerable position. All of that is due to your lack of knowledge regarding copyright law. Stop breaking the law. It will burn you and depending on what it is, your age may not save you. I just can't be any clearer than that.
The guy put himself in a vulnerable position by paying $20 for content creation to a 14 year old. You get what you pay for. What did he expect for $20? Who did he think that he was dealing with that the services would be so cheap?
 

justalayman

Senior Member
The guy put himself in a vulnerable position by paying $20 for content creation to a 14 year old. You get what you pay for. What did he expect for $20? Who did he think that he was dealing with that the services would be so cheap?
and did he know it was a 14 yo kid? Kind of hard to tell the age of the person typing the email.

but in the end: irrelevant
 
and did he know it was a 14 yo kid? Kind of hard to tell the age of the person typing the email.

but in the end: irrelevant
He didn't do his due diligence in what was apparently an important business transaction for him, most likely because he thought he was getting such a great deal. His fault, not the kid's.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
He didn't do his due diligence in what was apparently an important business transaction for him, most likely because he thought he was getting such a great deal. His fault, not the kid's.
I will agree to an extent but that does not alter the actual legal implications in all of this.
 

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