# Is this footage really royalty free? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 4, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848 "2014-03-04T19:09:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![by-tor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/by-tor/32/266_2.png) [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/1 "2014-03-04T19:09:58Z")
In the community video section of [archive.org](http://archive.org) I found the excellent “Planet Earth” series that I believe was done by the BBC. Here it is: [https://archive.org/details/Planet\_Earth](https://archive.org/details/Planet_Earth) I find it hard to believe that this footage is royalty free and under the creative commons license as the footage in the community video section is supposed to be. So, did someone just make a mistake or can I really use this footage how I want to? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/2 "2014-03-04T22:04:10Z")
The BBC hold the copyright. I have yet to find anything that says the BBC has allowed any use outside of the copyright. ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/3 "2014-03-05T21:44:18Z")
Whoever uploaded it didn’t fill in the copyright info, as far as I can tell. It’s very unlikely he has permission from the BBC to upload it to [Archive.org](http://Archive.org), but I can’t say for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/4 "2014-03-05T23:32:26Z")
YIFY is a pirate group that releases movies on the torrents. That’s what all the videos there were. No way they were uploaded by the BBC. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/5 "2014-03-05T23:36:23Z")
There might be a fair-use argument for using parts of it, depending what you do, but don’t try that unless you have production insurance and a lawyer to review. Of course that really applies to any footage. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/6 "2014-03-06T01:48:53Z")
Does the fact that it’s much lower resolution than originally broadcast matter at all? Just curious. I’m surprised, because [archive.org](http://archive.org) always seemed like a law abiding, professional organization to me. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/7 "2014-03-06T02:41:21Z")
I don’t think this necessarily reflects on [archive.org](http://archive.org) itself – this is on the “Community Video” section of the [archive.org](http://archive.org) site, which used to be called “Open Source Video” and allows users to upload videos. My guess is that they just haven’t realized it’s there yet, and will remove it if/when they realize it’s there. Unless, of course, they somehow got permission from the copyright holder. But it seems unlikely, given that those are YIFY releases. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/8 "2014-03-06T03:41:50Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Does the fact that it’s much lower resolution than originally broadcast matter at all? Just curious. I’m no lawyer, but I’m pretty confident that it doesn’t matter. > [@DrCube](#): > > I’m surprised, because [archive.org](http://archive.org) always seemed like a law abiding, professional organization to me. No doubt a user uploaded it, and the [archive.org](http://archive.org) people haven’t been notified of it yet to take it down. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/9 "2014-03-06T03:49:39Z")
Just a heads-up here but, if you download them as a torrent you may get a nasty letter from your ISP telling you not to download ANY torrents. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/10 "2014-03-06T13:25:51Z")
> [@randompattern](#): > > Just a heads-up here but, if you download them as a torrent you may get a nasty letter from your ISP telling you not to download ANY torrents. There are a LOT of legitimate, legal torrents out there. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/11 "2014-03-06T13:39:20Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > There are a LOT of legitimate, legal torrents out there. What percentage of torrents out there are legal? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/12 "2014-03-06T15:08:37Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What percentage of torrents out there are legal? According to this, in the first half of 2012 in regards to music downloads, it was [31%](http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120928/23265120546/yes-there-are-many-many-many-many-legal-uses-bittorrent.shtml). I don’t know if there’s a similar study for video downloads. > [@](#): > > Of course, over time, things change. Content creators begin to embrace the new, realize that it might not be evil, and suddenly we see more and more interesting case studies. And that seems to be happening with BitTorrent. The recent MusicMetric analysis of BitTorrent downloads for the first six months of 2012 found that 31% of downloads were for authorized files. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/13 "2014-03-06T15:09:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What percentage of torrents out there are legal? It’s probably a very small percentage, but that doesn’t matter. Bittorrent is a just a protocol, and perfectly legal. **randompattern** , did you actually get a letter from an ISP that forbade _all_ torrents? ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/14 "2014-03-06T15:13:31Z")
To put some perspective on this. 70% of email is spam. So BitTorrent is about as legitimate as email. > [@](#): > > In Q2 the percentage of spam in total email traffic increased by 4.2% from the first quarter of 2013 and came to 70.7%. > **[Spam in Q2 2013: More offices in danger from targeted plausible fakes](https://www.kaspersky.com/about/press-releases/spam-in-q2-2013-more-offices-in-danger-from-targeted-plausible-fakes)** > > In Q2 the percentage of spam in total email traffic increased by 4.2% from the first quarter of 2013 and came to 70.7% > [@](#): > > The percentage of spam in total email traffic decreased by 2.4 percentage points from the second quarter of 2013 and came to 68.3%. > **[Securelist | Kaspersky’s threat research and reports](https://securelist.com)** > > The Securelist blog houses Kaspersky’s threat intelligence reports, malware research, APT analysis and statistics ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/15 "2014-03-06T15:34:26Z")
Spam is annoying. Illegal torrent is illegal. It’s like claiming that a cereal that contains 70% rat poison is equivalent to a cereal containing 70% sugar. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/16 "2014-03-06T15:50:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It’s like claiming that a cereal that contains 70% rat poison is equivalent to a cereal containing 70% sugar. I don’t understand how that works as an analogy at all. They both will kill you, so…what…ban it all? BitTorrent is a clever, useful, and efficient protocol for the distribution of large files, and is used by record companies, video/multimedia companies, software companies, etc., to distribute content legally. That 31% of the music users are using it legally is not insignificant. My guess is that you thought it was something that is _rarely_ used for legitimate file transfers when, in fact, that is not the case. I think it would be a pity to quash this technology because a majority of its users are currently using it for piracy. I mean, hell, [archive.org](http://archive.org) has over _one million_ torrents available. It’d be a pity not to have speedy access to that archive through this technology. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/17 "2014-03-06T16:15:03Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Spam is annoying. > Illegal torrent is illegal. > It’s like claiming that a cereal that contains 70% rat poison is equivalent to a cereal containing 70% sugar. A lot of spam is illegal. [http://www.business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business](http://www.business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business) Most of the spam I find in my spam filters on gmail are violating this act. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-footage-really-royalty-free/682848/18 "2014-03-06T18:02:07Z")
For one thing, almost every Linux distro out there is distributed via torrents. And lots of other free software too. Since the majority of free software is distributed using bittorrent, blocking it has an adverse effect that threatens the free speech of FOSS proponents, contributors and users. Not that a monopolistic ISP has to protect speech, but they should anyway. Besides, it’s just another protocol. Block it, and Pirate Bay will be using HTTP, FTP, the USPS or freaking carrier pigeon the next day. The issue isn’t the protocol, is my point. Blocking the protocol to prevent piracy is like tearing up the entire US Highway system to prevent drug smuggling.