Expert Q & A

Is it legal to upload TV clips from my favorite shows to sites like YouTube?

In most cases, it's not legal to copy content you don't own. Sites like YouTube have been known to contain clips, for example, from popular television shows. However, such clips are often posted without permission from the networks -- and some networks are in dispute with YouTube over those clips. The same thing happened when music fans posted MP3 files of their favorite songs to the Net starting a decade ago -- some record labels took action. So, yes, if you transfer clips from TV shows or movies to YouTube or other video sites, you could be violating copyright laws and be held liable.

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