General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: According to your values, is illegally downloading a song, TV show, or movie immoral? [View all]Ms. Toad
(34,130 posts)That's the way the law works to protect hosts like YouTube.
As to third party materials (you post something you don't own the rights to): A decade or so ago the law so that You Tube (and places like it which allow others to post without controlling content) are presumed innocent until they are notified by the injured party. If they let it stay up, then they lose their presumption of innocence - which is why they take it down so quickly. That doesn't mean that anything still standing has been cleared and is free for the taking - it just means that YouTube has not been notified that it needs to cover its rear end by taking it down yet. (If it doesn't take it down once it is notified, it may be liable along with whoever posted it for infringement.)
As to material posted directly by the owner - posting material online is NOT a license to download it. That is the equivalent of saying that if a car door is unlocked, it is legal to drive off in it. You can admire the pretty car (or video), but it isn't legal to take it just because you can.
Viewing it is different - if you post your own work on an open website, you are granting a license to view it (even though the process of viewing it actually makes a copy on your computer).
People downloading stuff do get sued. I've defended some of them - although there is very little in the way of a defense which can be raised because downloading stuff (as opposed to viewing on the site where the owner placed it) really is against the law. Whether you get caught or not - that is a different question. But if you get caught, there aren't many defenses. And ignorance of the law isn't a defense that stands up in court.