Fountain Valley, CA asked in Copyright for California

Q: can I legally create an app to easily allow users to browse, search, and consume free online videos like from youtube?

Can I charge users a monthly fee for using the app?

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1 Lawyer Answer
Karima Gulick
Karima Gulick
Answered
  • Intellectual Property Lawyer
  • Irvine, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: You probably can't charge users a monthly fee for using the app without the permission of the authors of the videos.

In general, you can either use the work under fair use or after requesting auhtorization from the authors. Given that you intend to make profit from the users, fair use is no longer possibility in this case. If the work is copyrighted and not part of the public domain, you can't sell other people's work without their authorization.

More details on your case would be necessary for a better analysis and conclusion.

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