So I have a video product that I am about to start selling. Once people pay, they will be able to download the videos, or ideally stream it via YouTube.
But...I don't want them to be able to share the link with every Tom, Dick and Harry.
I know that an unlisted video can still be made public, so that won't work for me. But apparently there can be 'private videos' too.
Where can I learn more about this in the API docs? Or what is the best way to approach this? Especially given that I don't want them to have to have a Google+ account.
Ideally, they should be able to login to my app, and watch the embedded videos there. But they should not be able to share the direct YouTube link.
I know they can always share their account info, that's fine...I will do other things to keep track of and monitor that. It's really the anonymous sharing of the YouTube link I am worried about.
Thanks.
Read the API terms of service and check with your legal folks. Specifically, you will want to make sure that your sale of private content uploaded to YouTube is in compliance with #2 in the Terms of Service:
You agree not to use the YouTube API for any of the following
commercial uses unless You obtain YouTube's prior written approval:
the sale of the YouTube API, API Data, YouTube audiovisual content or
related services, or access to any of the foregoing;
Related
I am a teacher and I have a YouTube channel with videos for my students. Every time one of my students see a video, I would love to know how he interacted with it: where he has paused it , where he has rewinded it, etc. This would help me in knowing the parts of the video that are difficult to understand.
My question is: is it possible to get all this data from a user's session? Specifically, can I get these detailed raw data from YouTube APIs?
From what I have explored so far, it seems that it is not possible, as YouTube APIs only seem to send "aggregated" data (example: total number of views of a video) or "properties" (example: title of the video).
I would really just need a Yes/No answer to my question, just to know if I am not waisting my time in exploring the APIs as a solution to my problem.
Thank you.
Yes and no,
But here is a more detailed explanation.
The YouTube Analytics api will give you analytics data on your own YouTube channel, but it wont be user specific you cant track who exactly did something. You may however be able to get some basic information about each video and what was clicked and how much was viewed. video reports But its not going to be user specific you wont know what Mike did as opposed to what Jane did.
The YouTube Data api will allow you to manage your own YouTube Channel for example upload videos and see subscriptions. It will also let you search for public videos on YouTube.
If you do want user specific then What you are looking for is session data related to user activity. Something like this is not publicly available. Google couldn't share your students activity without the students permission due to GDPR not to mention the fact that tracking anyone under the age of 13 would also be against some GDPR laws if i remember correctly.
Even Google analytics doesn't offer websites a decent way of tracking individual users activity on their websites. You can do it but you have to add additional tracking data to your website, and notify users that you are doing it.
SO your answer is yes kind of
i'm planning to create some app that use youtube-api.
Is it legal to use Youtube Data API to create youtube-like app that aggregrate youtube videos from any channel? even it is not my channel or my video? Can I (legally) monetize those app with Admob?
Your question is answered in the first paragraph of the YouTube API Terms of Service.
1. Is it legal to use Youtube Data API to create youtube-like app that aggregrate youtube videos from any channel?
The terms don't prohibit it, as long as the client is compliant with the ToS. So, yes, it is legal.
2. Can I (legally) monetize those app with Admob?
It depends.
You agree not to use the YouTube API for any of the following commercial uses unless You obtain YouTube's prior written approval: [...] the sale of advertising, sponsorships, or promotions on any page of the API Client containing YouTube audiovisual content, unless other content not obtained from YouTube appears on the same page and is of sufficient value to be the basis for such sales.
I'm not an expert in law questions, but what this says (imho) is that you may advertise your application if it does not solely contain YouTube content. In other words, your application has to extend the functionality of https://youtube.com, not recreate it.
In any case, you may not block or in any way alter in-player ads.
Conclusion
Based on the short concept of your app you posted in the question, I would say:
You may build "youtube-like app that aggregrate youtube videos from any channel", but
you may not advertise it, since it does not feature original content.
if you plan to publish this on app store please review the IOS Guide Lines
5.2.3 Audio/Video Downloading: Apps should not facilitate illegal file sharing or include the ability to save, convert, or download media
from third-party sources (e.g. Apple Music, YouTube, SoundCloud,
Vimeo, etc.) without explicit authorization from those sources.
Streaming of audio/video content may also violate Terms of Use, so be
sure to check before your app accesses those services. Documentation
must be provided upon request.
And this SO question
I am currently developing an app where I want to combine some social networks. Youtube is one of those. I have some questions regarding the policies.
Is it allowed to show, posts, comments, pictures (comment photos, profile picture, post pictures, etc.), videos, like count, share count and everything the graph api provides me, commercially. Of course, only with the permission of the site owner. If not, what is allowed?
Am I allowed that the user can Like and Share posts/comments?
Can I place own adverts in my app? (not as video. The advert from youtube will be shown anyway)
I want you to answer my questions in a honest way.
You can find YouTube's and YouTube's API terms of service linked below:
YouTube's Terms of Service
YouTube's API Terms of Service
I have an app with list of videos from youtube and the user can choose one and play it using YoutubePlayer (of the official api). My question is : it is legal to play any video from YouTube in my app ?
Should I ask the owners of the videos for permission to play their videos in my app ?
I read the terms of service of YouTube and I did not understand that.
Thanks.
If you're using the API, then you needn't worry about asking any permission to play others' videos. Uploaders also have a terms of service, whereby they grant access to play their videos through any official means unless they note it somewhere ... so, for example, they'd have to set videos as private, or set various parameters that forbid embedding, mobile playback, etc. If the video owner hasn't set those, then their use of the YouTube platform enables you to use the API to play them. This comes not from the API terms of service but from the general terms of service:
https://www.youtube.com/static?template=terms
Specifically, 6-C which states that when users upload content to YouTube, they grant YouTube a
worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and
transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative
works of, display, and perform the Content in connection with the
Service and YouTube's (and its successors' and affiliates') business,
including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or
all of the Service (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats
and through any media channels. You also hereby grant each user of the
Service a non-exclusive license to access your Content through the
Service, and to use, reproduce, distribute, display and perform such
Content as permitted through the functionality of the Service and
under these Terms of Service.
Since YouTube, with those licenses, allows them to be accessed via the API, they are in a sense covering you with their license. Of course, if you ever implement something without the official API, or if you break the API terms of service in some other way, then you wouldn't be covered by this.
I am a bit confused about the YouTube API's term & conditions. If I create an app for users to download only their own videos. Is that against the terms and conditions?
I know downloading other people content is definitely prohibited, but is it the same for your own videos? Since user can go to their video manager and download their own videosm this would be only a short-cut?
Anyone knows can/cannot do this? I was thinking of using this library http://ytdownloadextension.codeplex.com/
Any guidance would be appreciated,
Covo
Seems like YouTube already allows you to do that, so I'd say it's legal:
Download your videos
You can’t download other people’s YouTube videos, but ...
You can download MP4 files of videos that you’ve uploaded to YouTube in either 720p or 360p, depending on the video size.
See Download videos that you've uploaded.
I don't think so the Terms of Service of Youtube or the Terms of Service of the API allows you to do so:
Excerpt of Youtube ToS (5. K):
you agree not to access Content or any reason other than your personal, non-commercial use solely as intended through and permitted by the normal functionality of the Service, and solely for Streaming. "Streaming" means a contemporaneous digital transmission of the material by YouTube via the Internet to a user operated Internet enabled device in such a manner that the data is intended for real-time viewing and not intended to be downloaded (either permanently or temporarily), copied, stored, or redistributed by the user.
Excerpt of the API ToS (II. 11):
store copies of YouTube audiovisual content;
Both, state in a very clear way that neither the user nor applications built using the API can "store" content, which is a very direct statement that disallows you from giving such an option in your app. Now, whether Youtube does give its users an interface to download their content or not is an argument out of sequence here as Youtube don't need to follow their own ToS, in other words, it's up to them to give their users such an option, but you can't give it to the users of your app.
I suppose you need a special permission from Youtube to give such an option in your app.
Yes. You can definitely download your own videos from YouTube as it is your own content so you have full rights to it as the creator of the videos.