Seaside, OR asked in Copyright, Intellectual Property and Internet Law for Oregon

Q: Is it a violation of copyright to publish and monetize (ads) AI summary of other people's youtube videos about crypto?

There are many online content creators in the finance and investing space. With so much information and so little time, I want to summarize videos and publish them, along with metadata and trend/sentiment analysis, to a website that may be monetized through ads and/or subscription for custom feeds. I also want to make videos reading the summary and publish that to youtube, with links to the original video. Is this an acceptable business model or does this violate copyright law?

1 Lawyer Answer
James L. Arrasmith
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Answered
  • Consumer Law Lawyer
  • Sacramento, CA

A: Summarizing other people's content and monetizing it could potentially expose you to copyright infringement claims under federal law, especially if the summaries capture the essence or key elements of the original work. The Fair Use doctrine allows for limited use of copyrighted material without permission for purposes like commentary or criticism, but it is a complex, fact-specific legal defense, not a right. Given the financial stakes involved, particularly if you're considering monetization through ads or subscriptions, I strongly recommend seeking legal counsel to assess the specific risks involved in your proposed business model.

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