There's a lot of links posted on this site showing pianos, piano performances, etc.

I have posted links here (and elsewhere) and find it confusing as to what are "legal links" and those that may not be legal.

I've searched this subject a bit and find that it's a debatable subject. How does one know FOR SURE a piano performance is or is not copyrighted? Too, they say that a link is not copying, per se, but merely a means of directing people's attention to what may or may not be copyrighted.

Is YouTube liable when an individual posts a link to a copyrighted performance shown on their site or is the individual liable? Or, neither? Believe I read that YouTube is often contacted by companies or individuals who ask them to remove their copyrighted materials, performances, etc.

I believe this is one of the new computer related legal issues that has not been thoroughly addressed by the courts thus leading to confusion.

Bech

I'm sure there are lawyers in this group. What can you tell me about links and legality?

Be glad to hear from all.

Bech

I am not a lawyer, and I'm an US-centric, so I'm answering only for the US.

Original poster = the one who posts the material in question.
End user = the person viewing the video.There is no way for an end user to really know, unless good copyright information is provided by the original poster.

Even if an end user asks the original poster, they may be confused about copyright issues or even outright malicious.

An example would be a musician who infringed on a popular song, but still he claimed on the video to have all rights secured.A link is not copying, but knowingly linking to infringing material is illegal.

Innocently linking to infringing material is legally gray, but it's likely legal.The original poster is responsible for copyright. This is in the ToS and is also part of the safe harbor of the DMCA.
This is correct. This is a part of the DMCA.

Youtube is not a content provider, but only provides a platform to distribute content. If a copyright owner sees something infringing, they can file a DMCA notice with youtube and take down the offending material.

The original poster can also file a DMCA notice to put back the offending material, although they take a large legal responsibility in doing so. They testify that the material is legal and in doing so, they cannot claim they they didn't know it was illegal. Well, three cases have proved that knowingly linking to infringing material is illegal.


Plaintiff Intellectual Reserve (IR) vs Utah Lighthouse Ministry (ULM)

Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Reimerdes

Comcast vs. Hightech Electronics Inc

As far as I know, there has been no cases of innocently linking to illegal material.

DMCA is very helpful - I had a short story stolen and placed on a blog - the complaint that I filed was instrumental in having the blogger's blog taken down. Of course, others will crop up - it does seem to be a never-ending battle...