Copyright Of Photos/Video Streams

[GWestphal]

I have a friend who had a rough time a few years back and needed money. She did the whole camgirl thing for a few months to get by. She got back on her feet and stopped all that. Well, now it appears some users had recorded photos/videos of her streams and are uploading them to several tube sites. Obviously, this is quite distressing to her both personally and professionally in the case she tries to be a teacher, police officer, etc.

The question is, is she the copyright owner and can she DMCA the content off these sites?

I would contend that yes she is the copyright owner, her camera is the one that captured the images/video, thus making her the photographer/videographer. She chose to stream that content, but that should not allow a 3rd party to upload that content anywhere.

The counter point being, the user who recorded her stream on their computer "made" the video that is uploaded. But that video is a copy coming from her camera, right? Thus it is a copyright issue...?


So, basically, is the originator of a photo/video stream the copyright owner assuming they own the camera?

But I'm also not a lawyer so what do I know.

 

[sixone]

Yes, she is the copyright owner. But DCMA may not be enough, so she should start looking for a good copyright lawyer.

 

[Syborg1211]

Your friend might also try contacting the cam site she worked with. The cam sites don't like people recording their streams any more than the models, and if it's a big enough site they'll have lawyers dedicated to protecting their models and their streams.

 

[Paladin3]

How did she get paid and by whom?

If a company was paying her then they most likely own the copyright to the video, unless there was a contract in place that specified otherwise. It doesn't mater who owned the camera or computer that produced or recorded the stream. Your friend would likely have had to sign a modeling release and transferred all rights at the same time, to get paid.

If instead she was working for herself and got paid by the end customers directly, with no middle man between her and her clients, then she would retain copyright. Again, what kind of release or contract did she sign, if any?

Regardless of who owns the copyright, the end customers who paid to view the stream had no right to record and upload it anywhere. That is copyright violation.

If she truly is the copyright owner of the materials, then she can start sending notices to the various tube sites and ask that they remove the materials. Good luck. It will be like pissing upwind in a hurricane and trying not to get wet.