Comments on: Beware: YouTube video annotations may be inappropriately disruptive

By: diddy47

diddy47 — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:18:25 +0000

heya…i agree these annotations are an annoyance instead of being helpful

here is how u get rid of them

first you need to be browsing using firefox with the adblck plus extension installed

open youtube and visit any video page that you know has annotations

right click the adblock plus icon

click ‘open blockable items’ under the adblock plus icon in the browser

type in ‘module’ and press enter

right click the result that comes up and select ‘block this items’

close the ‘open blockable item window’ and reload page

no more annotations …

from now on all youtube videos in your browser have no annotations

By: Cathy Nelson

Cathy Nelson — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:38:50 +0000

LOL Scott! You sound more and more like Doug Johnson EVERYDAY!!November 11 promises to give us an update on Copyright. Looking forward to the date. But like Doug, I have relaxed my stance some on copyright, and assume permission first (for most online things.)

By: Scott McLeod

Scott McLeod — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:34:59 +0000

I know just enough about copyright to be dangerous to myself and others. I’d say download it, use it, and wait for the ‘cease and desist’ letter. Otherwise, don’t worry about it [note: this does NOT constitute legal advice!].

Can you tell I’m a little more cavalier about this than maybe I should be? I just think you have more important issues to worry about than whether someone’s going to go after you for this…

By: Wesley Fryer

Wesley Fryer — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:11:52 +0000

Cathy: I emailed this link to Scott yesterday and asked for his input and the EdJurist crew… we’ll see what they say!

By: links for 2008-11-04 | Collateral Learning

links for 2008-11-04 | Collateral Learning — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:00:44 +0000

[...] Beware: YouTube video annotations may be inappropriately disruptive » Moving at the Speed of Creati… (tags: web2.0 youtube) [...]

By: Cathy Nelson

Cathy Nelson — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:30:42 +0000

Wow–thanks. What about specifically downloading YouTube video? Since the site itself does not seem to offer a way to download, one must use outside sites to actually do this (I personally have used ZamZar to download stuff for presentations–relying on an Internet connection for a pres is risky business in my experience.) Perhaps Doc Mcleod can answer that to. I did think wow this would be good food for thought to mash around with Scott.

By: Wesley Fryer

Wesley Fryer — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:28:02 +0000

Cathy: According to the YouTube Terms of use document:

Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only and may not be downloaded, copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, broadcast, displayed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any other purposes whatsoever without the prior written consent of the respective owners.

Based on these terms, is showing a YouTube video to a class at school or a group at an educational conference a violation of this contract? The terms go on to prohibit downloading and copying for commercial purposes:

You agree to not engage in the use, copying, or distribution of any of the Content other than expressly permitted herein, including any use, copying, or distribution of User Submissions of third parties obtained through the Website for any commercial purposes.

The terms do not address noncommercial, educational uses from what I can tell. I am not a lawyer, but my understanding of law suggests that contractual law (which is invoked by a terms of use agreement like this) is different than copyright law provisions and fair use. My layman's interpretation is that it would be helpful if YouTube's Terms of Use specifically permitted the noncommercial, educational sharing of videos. Technically speaking, these terms appear to require anyone who wants to share a video with a group (something beyond "personal use") to obtain the permission of the owner/publisher. It is easy to send a message via YouTube to video publishers, but this certainly would be a potentially cumbersome and burdensome task. I'll forward this on to Dr. Scott McLeod and others at the EdJurist blog to get their views on this. Good question.

By: Cathy Nelson

Cathy Nelson — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:25:55 +0000

Isn’t downloading YT videos against their terms of use? Of course they are not a stellar or fine example of copyright anyway…Tsk, tsk, just when my district was relaxing a bit in regards to YouTube. (Teachers had access while student logins did not.)

By: Lori A

Lori A — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:44:40 +0000

Since YouTube is blocked at my district, I download videos and preview them before showing. I have never seen these annotations before, thanks for pointing it out. I do remember the “Don’t copy that floppy” video. I showed it when I was the computer teacher at a middle school back in the 1990′s.

By: Leif Harboe

Leif Harboe — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:02:02 +0000

Thanks for sharing this! I haven’t heard about before you told me!

By: Jennifer Clark Evans

Jennifer Clark Evans — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:02:43 +0000

Thank you for sharing this. I know that you learned the hard way, but we will all benefit from the lesson you learned. I use YouTube videos occasionally to introduce a topic or as a visual supplement to a discussion. Do you know if anyone can leave an annotation on a video, or if it can only be done by the originator?

By: Bronwen Eady

Bronwen Eady — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:27:36 +0000

Thanks for letting us know about this – it is certainly something I would not have considered a risk. As I teach in a NSW govt school I am unable to access You Tube at work even as a staff member, so I have no choice but to download them, but if it is something i “know” i admit i do not always preview the entire clip before taking it to school. I will now!
I agree that this is yet another arrow in the side of the educational use of youtube – it is becoming an insurmountable battle. Adding to the problem are the ads that are now playing over the videos on teacher tube. It certainly is a shame.