[vlc-devel] ATTN: removal of website playlist parsers

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

Le mercredi 15 avril 2009, Derk-Jan Hartman a écrit :
> "no way in hell that LUA scripts could be used without violating the
> terms of use, and hence infringing copyrights"
> You cannot infringe on copyrights _because_ you violate the ToS.

What else grants you permission to access YouTube's content?
Nothing. Call that access right rather than copyright if you want.

> As much as not all content played with VLC is illegal, not all content
> on Youtube will be illegal to republish copyright wise, even though
> the retrieval method will violate the ToS.

Accessing the content _specifically_ from YouTube would still be 
illegal. If it's not piracy as in copyright infringement, it will be 
piracy as in unauthorized use of a computer system. Either way, the 
publisher of VLC is complicit of piracy, or worse, luring the user into 
piracy.

From YouTube's usage conditions:

| You agree not to distribute in any medium any part of the Website,
| including but not limited to User Submissions (defined below),
| without YouTube's prior written authorization.
| You agree not to alter or modify any part of the Website, including
| but not limited to YouTube's Embeddable Player or any of its related
| technologies.  
| You agree not to access User Submissions (defined below) or YouTube
| Content through any technology or means other than the video playback
| pages of the Website itself, the YouTube Embeddable Player, or other
| explicitly authorized means YouTube may designate.    

So, it is really very simple:
Either VLC is an explicitly authorized mean, or it is not.
* If it is, then great. That's why I was asking for explanations in the 
original email.
* If it is not, then the the YouTube LUA scripts do not belong in the 
git official repository.
There is no point in bad faith arguments, all the more on a publicly 
archived mailing list.

> 1: The script itself breaches the ToS agreed upon by the writer of
> the script
> 2: The script when used by a VLC user breaches the ToS.
> 3: The user can republish something retrieved trough the script and
> violate a copyright/license.
> 4: The user can republish something retrieved trough the script and
> NOT violate a copyright/license (movies in PD, or freely licensed)
> 5: The user can watch/retrieve something and NOT republish, he does
> NOT violate copyright/license.
>
> 1+2: Might cause blocking of VLC at youtube, or "evasions" in the
> HTML. Possibly a "cease distribution" request from Youtube. Not gonna
> land someone in jail or court, unless we ignore/refuse their requests
> flat out.

No. It's not just a breach of contract. It's piracy. It's a felony.

> 1: Risk of the original author.

Not just that. Risk for the publisher(s) and their complicits.

-- 
Rémi Denis-Courmont
http://www.remlab.net/