Expert: Dan Pepper - 3/15/2009

Question
Hi there! I'm currently working with a team of friends to code and design a website much like youtube where users will submit their own amateur adult videos.

I'm concerned about users submitting other peoples' copy written videos.

Another thing I'm concerned about is people uploading illegal videos like webcam videos of underaged girls, or videos involving animals.

We plan on having some kind of reporting function so users can report submissions that violate our Terms of Service so we can remove the obvious TOS violations.

How do you think my colleagues and I should address these concerns? What do we do when we aren't sure if someone in a submitted amateur video is 18 or not when someone has reported it for containing an underage person?

What kind of liability would the website owners have for the content on their servers?

Any help would be great, thanks!

Answer
Lenny,

Tube sites carrying user generated adult content are running all sorts of very serious risks, and I cannot advise anyone to operate one.

Even though you may be able to reduce your liability for copyright infringement by complying with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (which protects website owners from copyright infringement arising from content uploaded by its users), there is a serious problem with compliance with 18 USC 2257 and its attendant federal regulations.

Depending upon how you manage the content uploaded by users, you may be considered a secondary producer under the federal 2257 rules, and therefore you are required to keep and maintain identification records of the talent in the films, and label your website with the appropriate compliance statement.  For tube site operators hosting user generated content, these rules are nearly impossible to comply with, and getting it wrong can mean a 5 year jail term.