Latest Thorn For Video Companies: Copyright Theft Via Live Streaming
By social media editor Melony Roy
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- America's oldest cable network says it is being forced to take action after finding that people are using live video apps to stream its copyrighted material.
HBO has confirmed it sent takedown notices to Periscope, the Twitter-owned live video streaming service, after several accounts were seen streaming Sunday's premiere of "Game of Thrones."
Philadelphia intellectual property attorney Richard Pierce says the apparent practice raises some technical issues under the law.
"If there is a video posted on YouTube, they can make a request and have it taken down," he notes. "In this instance there might not be any copy available, so it becomes cumbersome for content owners like HBO because, if their concern is the live stream, then they have to almost catch it in the act."
The case highlights a problem that analysts predicted: people using live video services such as Periscope and Meerkat to share unauthorized streams of copyrighted programming.
Pierce points out that YouTube went through a similar situation when it launched.
"They were finding large amounts of infringing content being posted on YouTube," he explained. "YouTube's argument was, if you let us know, we'll take the appropriate steps to take it down."
Twitter says Periscope complies with US copyright law and will respond to valid takedown requests.
