I would do a few things to

Submitted by Chris ONeal (not verified) on October 13, 2007 - 18:47.

I would do a few things to verify...
1. There are lots of videos on YouTube that do violate copyright laws, and I'd steer completely clear of those, of course.
2. If it appears that the video in question is an original video, you might just email the person who uploaded it, asking them for permission.
3. Unless the uploader is an actual company which you can clearly determine holds the copyright and can grant you permission, I would certainly not do anymore with it than show it during a lesson. Don't distribute it, copy it, keep it beyond the lesson, show it outside the classroom, or show it in any event/surrounding in which a cost is associated, and I think you at least are attempting to not blatantly violate copyright laws.

I have emailed several individual users who have uploaded their own content (home movies, vacation footage of national or historic places, etc.) and just asked them if I could show their video to students, and so far have gotten all positive responses.

I'm not a lawyer, by any stretch, so best to read up on the latest. Here are a few sources of information:
http://www.copyrightaware.gov.au/pathways/teachers/mean.html
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/topic.py?topic=10550

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