Is it illegal to hide the video part of an embedded YouTube video on my website?

[destinationsoun]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I am thinking of embedding a YouTube video on my website (simply, copying their embed code and pasting on my site).

I want to style it so only the play/pause button and progress bar are visible; hiding the video.

The reason for this is it is only audio that i am interested in. It is my own personal music i have uploaded to YouTube, with a still image in the background. There is no need for the image on my site.

My question is, if I style the embedded video with CSS, or an audio player plugin i have attached to my site, is it illegal to not display video and only hear audio?

Here is a quote from their Terms of Service for 'YouTube API'
Prohibited:
" 8. separate, isolate, or modify the audio or video components of any YouTube audiovisual content made available through the YouTube API;
9. promote separately the audio or video components of any YouTube audiovisual content made available through the YouTube API; "

Is what I am doing messing with the API? or is API only when building custom apps for websites and mobile?

Thank you for the help everyone!

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I am thinking of embedding a YouTube video on my website (simply, copying their embed code and pasting on my site).

I want to style it so only the play/pause button and progress bar are visible; hiding the video.

The reason for this is it is only audio that i am interested in. It is my own personal music i have uploaded to YouTube, with a still image in the background. There is no need for the image on my site.

My question is, if I style the embedded video with CSS, or an audio player plugin i have attached to my site, is it illegal to not display video and only hear audio?

Here is a quote from their Terms of Service for 'YouTube API'
Prohibited:
" 8. separate, isolate, or modify the audio or video components of any YouTube audiovisual content made available through the YouTube API;
9. promote separately the audio or video components of any YouTube audiovisual content made available through the YouTube API; "

Is what I am doing messing with the API? or is API only when building custom apps for websites and mobile?

Thank you for the help everyone!

What you are proposing to do with your video sounds very much to me like it violates YouTube's terms of service.

I think you would be smart to contact YouTube and inquire of them directly whether what you intend to do would be in violation of the agreement you made with them. Nothing quite like hearing it from the horse's mouth.

 

[ecmst12]

If it's your music why can't you just use the mp3 on your site?

 

[Proserpina]

If it's your music why can't you just use the mp3 on your site?

(shhh! You weren't supposed to ask that! )

 

[Olender]

Directly uploading the mp3 file on the website sounds more logical and simple.

 

[destinationsoun]

Directly uploading the mp3 file on the website sounds more logical and simple.

I was attempting to have YouTube host the files so i could avoid hosting charges or charges by using Amazons storage systems. Just trying to find ways to save a buck =-)

I would have gone to YouTube directly but i could not find anywhere to contact them about this. Only legal question area was about someone stealing your video and you want to dispute it.

 

[quincy]

I was attempting to have YouTube host the files so i could avoid hosting charges or charges by using Amazons storage systems. Just trying to find ways to save a buck =-)

Looking for ways to save money is always a good thing.

I just don't see you being able to cut costs here.

Again, you can contact YouTube directly to determine for sure that your proposed use would violate their terms of service (it appears to from my reading of the YouTube agreement). There is a "contact us" on the site (http://www.youtube.com/yt/about).

 

[asiny]

I was attempting to have YouTube host the files so i could avoid hosting charges or charges by using Amazons storage systems. Just trying to find ways to save a buck =-)

How much money are you spending on a hosting service? I pay $120 per year and I upload GBs of streaming data.

Forget the YouTube route- find yourself a better web hosting service and do it yourself.

 

[quincy]

How much money are you spending on a hosting service? I pay $120 per year and I upload GBs of streaming data.

Forget the YouTube route- find yourself a better web hosting service and do it yourself.

I think that makes it unanimous that taking the YouTube route does not make much sense for destinationsoun, not to mention it is likely to violate YouTube's Terms of Service anyway.

 

[mmmagique]

He can do it for free through dropbox, but it's kind of a pain. As stated, it costs almost nothing (less than five dollars per month) for hosting and is a lot easier than all of the work arounds he's trying.