Making money from someone else's copyrighted film

During the last year I spent thousands of euros buying unrealesed home movies on Ebay, mostly 8mm and sometimes 16 mm. It's more like an hobby than a business for me, because in this way I save historical material from trash or from the loneliness of cineclubs. To get the money to buy new stuff I also sell the best films I bought here on Pond5, of course after realizing that I own the only copy of them and always trying to avoid private shots. Today I was making a research to realize what kind of stuff sells best, and I just found 1930's material about Germany that was lightly digitalized from a documentary without owning any copyright (maybe from a DVD or from TV). So, my question is: why will I have to spend my money on buying original films, if I just can download a copyrighted movie from internet and make money from that? This is a big question for Pond5, becuase we all know it's the only Agency that doesn't take care about that, and as contributors spending time and money on our collections we need a clear answer. It's a matter of respect.

It is very unfortunate that there is copyrighted material for sale here.

But my question to you is this, You bought the movies from Ebay but did you also buy the copyright to resell?
That is two different things I believe.

To me if there is no clear copyright the video either should not be for sale or at the very least its editorial but you take the risk of someone's heirs sueing.


Jake

I have to agree, and also suggest you consult a copyrights lawyer. Many buyers will know not to buy clips of the more obviously copyrighted material unless they are using it for something that won't get them in trouble like power points or internal use work or school videos.

Owning the one and only copy of an 8mm is far different than downloading public domain or old movies from either military, NASA or private then cutting them or combining. P5 has said many times that public domain will not be accepted here yet there are many unaltered or combined clips that are selling on a regular basis. Many of these have no releases or comments on how they were obtained. This was asked a number of years ago when old movies and NASA clips were showing up. We were told no but it continues.

It's time for P5 to speak up again about using public domain or uploading clips of old films and movies. If public domain, does the artist need to significantly alter the look and or appearance to fall into fair use? Are NASA clips acceptable with little changes? We can all play the game if the playing field is level and fair.

Footageforpro: That's a good point you bring up regarding making money from other people's creation. As kk5hy says, there are two elements: ownership and copyright. It is possible to have one element or both - and they are completely different. By uploading we have accepted and agreed to the contract. The crux of this issue is covered in section 9, paragraphs a,b,c & d.

9. Representations, Warranties and Clearances.

You hereby represent and warrant as of the date you accept this Agreement and the date of each submission of Content as follows:

The Content represents original creations and expressions of subject matter.

You (i) have the legal capacity and authority to enter into this Agreement, (ii) are the sole and exclusive owner of the Content and the copyright thereof or otherwise have obtained from such owner and have the full legal right, power and authority to grant or transfer all of the rights to the Content granted and transferred to us under this Agreement, including the full legal right, power and authority to grant us the right to sub-license such Content as contemplated under the Pond5 License Agreement

You represent that all information provided to us by you or under your Pond5 membership or user ID, including all Content Information provided by you, is accurate and complete, including all information relating to the Content............

Sorry guys, there are big differences between me and the contributor I was talking about. I use to buy super 8 films from sons or grandsons of the original filmaker, or at least from the people that bought the film from them. I give them real money. What about copyright: is it an infringment using for editorial purposes footage of a pubblic place with recongnizable faces shot at least 40 years ago? Those children are now near retirement, and most of the people are deceased.
What that contributor made was to take a documentary, DVD or TV broadcasting, split it into footage and sell it. He's earning money from what he did not pay for. I'm sure of that: I was talking about 1930's in Germany, but there is even a shot of the Italian Dictator of that period. As Italy was not a Democracy, only one FILM Company were authorized to take footage of Mussolini. That Company still exists and still use to sell that historical material to productions (they sell not for free!), because they own the intellectual property of the footage. How could Pond5 inspectors pretend not to see that? I came to this because yesterday on Ebay, a 5 minutes unrealeased 16 mm film of the 1930's, with militar parade, were sold for 660 euros. As a stock footage producer why do I have to spend so much money, if I just can buy a DVD for 10 euros and then make footage from that?

super 8 films of familys ect,have no copyright & today many people buy and resell

Good luck with that.

<<<<super 8 films of familys ect,have no copyright & today many people buy and resell>>>>

I didn't know that and am intrigued as to why it is; so I have just asked a couple of Philadelphia lawyer friends of mine.

One thought maybe it was because super 8 footage is generally shaky with weird colours. The other reckoned it is because everyone wore funny clothes and had strange haircuts, plus everyone is probably dead and so don't count anyway.

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to take a moment to let everyone know that here at Pond5, we do have a fraud department who's purpose is to seek out instances of fraud and take the appropriate action. We take copyright and fraud very seriously, and will do whatever is necessary to protect the integrity of our marketplace.

If you ever find what you believe to be an instance of fraud, please http://help.pond5.com/hc/requests/new so we can document, investigate, and take the necessary action.