A lot of talk has been happening lately about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and how it affects porn. This has become especially true since Viacom’s case alleging Youtube infringed its copyright reached an appeals court that ruled Youtube could be liable if it knew infringing content was on its site. While this case is far from over, it does have serious implications for the porn industry.
After all, many user-uploaded porn sites rely on the “safe harbor” loophole in the DMCA that assumes that user-uploaded sites aren’t aware when their content is copyright-infringing. As long as these sites delete the content when demanded, they’re in the clear as far as the DMCA is concerned.
The twist on this scenario that’s been happening in the porn industry occurs on user-uploaded porn tubes. A recent Xbiz article alleges that some porn tubes are knowingly uploading infringing content (or paying others to do it for them) then removing the videos when requested. Once a video’s been removed, however, it’s then sent back to the upload department who re-uploads it. Xbiz argues that this cycle is causing the porn industry immensely. In fact, USA Today quoted Steve Hirsch, founder of Vivid Entertainment, as saying that DVD sales plunged 20% last year.
While such changes are affecting the industry, it’s important to keep in mind that not all porn tubes are alike. Yes, some porn tubes are allegedly uploading content under the guise of user-uploaded content. However, other porn tubes, like Orgasm.com, actually function under affiliate partnership deals. This means that 100% of our content is legally obtained through the relationships we have with the porn studios who created it. Just remember: not all free porn is bad and not everything you hear about porn tubes applies to us.
Tags: Steve Hirsch, Vivid, XBiz