So, I was messaged by a friend who just said “watch it here, before they take it down.” I messaged him “please, flag it, we don’t encourage piracy”. Also, I have commented “Please, dude, take this down, because this belongs to Netflix.” I guess if this campaign succeeds, I’ll have my peace. 
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I should point out now that watching the pirated content on Youtube or similar streaming sites is not illegal.
Mass flagging however is against Youtube terms of services and if you are caught doing it your account can be taken down. Even if you are only flagging videos that contain copyrighted content.
It is illegal to pirate the video (copy it from Netflix and upload it to Youtube) however Youtube hosting that is not illegal, it is just that copyright owners can get Youtube to take it down. The only legality it breaks regarding Youtubes is Youtubes own rules/laws - hence why they act. It doesn’t prevent the person from uploading it again via another account or another site.
I should also mention now that Youtube is not the main sharing site for Netflix shows, as there are multiple much more popular sites where things like Daredevil show up immediately after being uploaded on Netflix. As such Youtube in itself is a very minor drop in a very large pool of places you can find Journey To One.
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While i dislike piracy i personally feel that this sort of ‘mass flagging’ of Youtube videos for sharing Bionicle videos is a bad thing and here are the reasons;
Lego have acted on this prior and certain content they allow to be shared on Youtube and the resulting fallout of this could be dangerous to the Biotube community
Lego set a precedence on this before, allowing the Ninjago episodes to have been pirated onto Youtube until they uploaded them on their own channel and took down the pirated versions. Some aspects, for whatever reason, are allowed by Lego to be shared on sites such as Youtube - normally with full knowledge of them being on Youtube.
The Winter and Summer animations have been pirated and uploaded on Tesla-Effect and both videos are allowed to remain because for whatever reason, despite Lego being aware of them, they do not have an issue with them.
The Lego Movie for example is copyrighted and if it is uploaded it will be automatically acknowledged by the copyright system and will be taken down. This demonstrates that Lego are aware that certain content of theirs is being pirated and have chosen to act only when necessary - on a big-budget movie for example.
The only reason Lego are really having to act on ‘Journey To One’ is because you are forcing them to, and that is a VERY BAD thing to get Lego to do. Unlike the automatic copyright system that activates based on a sample given to them via Lego - what happens when a video receives a lot of flags is the following.
Youtube takes note of what is being flagged, the tags, the title, everything - and begins a process of getting it auto-copyrighted. That doesn’t simply mean ‘Journey To One’ though, it means they will likely get in touch with Lego and determine with Lego which content should be given auto-copyright status (to be taken down whenever uploaded)
This could mean an end to varying aspects such as clips, trailers, AMV’s, reviews that use clips of Bionicle media (both old and new) - it could mean an end to many forms of Biotube.
Losing potential fans;
Lots of Biotubers share the Bionicle commercials, animations, trailers and do this primarily to make it easier for viewers to watch and enjoy - without them we would have never experienced a majority of Bionicle content. Especially older content that has only been saved via the groups of Youtubers who have been uploading it.
As mentioned by @shartimus12, one of these videos has over 25,000 views. Someone who has Netflix would be unlikely to go to Youtube to watch the video, so that’s 25,000 fans who now do not have access to ‘Journey To One’
Added to this the idea that ‘Journey To One’ is primarily designed, like Hero Factory and other shows, to advertise the sets - avoiding showing that to over 25,000 fans could result in a large loss of not only viewers, but also a loss in sales.
Its worth noting also that out of these 25,000 - a lot of which will either be new fans, or simply people who have not experienced Bionicle before. It is a lot easier to find things you like on Youtube rather than being recommended a show on Netflix (JTO is currently NOT being shown in the recommended area on Netflix)
The impact on those who do not have Netflix;
In the past many Youtubers who have been unable to use Netflix have resorted to viewing the episodes via other mentions. I’ve previously brought up the idea of TTV watching the pirated Ninjago episodes for the purposes of reviews and while excuses have flown regarding that, it is still piracy and a lot of people have done it and will continue to do it to share content.
People are still committing piracy to do this, and everyone has their own excuses for doing so, without Youtube we wouldn’t have had quick/early reviews of Ninjago or other Lego lines. It is essentially depriving them of a way to watch something they enjoy and something that could encourage them to buy the sets.
The double-sided nature of people fighting piracy;
One of the biggest gripes i have is that those fighting piracy have used piracy themselves and many continue to do so until this day. I’ve always viewed piracy as having different levels of severity, however even then it is still piracy. I feel a lot of people here supporting the idea of going around and taking down these videos via organised ‘mass flagging’ in a sort of vigilante style are guilty of having used piracy to make things easier or benefit their lives prior.
The levels of enjoyment people have from destroying Youtube channel and Youtubers who may just be kids themselves;
The levels of excitement, enjoyment and general lack of caring about these fans of Bionicle who have decided to share the content with everyone because they enjoyed it. While granted we do likely have some just sharing the videos for the sake of monetisation, that is unlikely for many channels and having your account taken down for copyright infringement/piracy is something that can seriously affect a kid - especially considering in their mind all they did was share a video with friends and family.
Imagine for a second you are a fan of Bionicle and you want to support the line, what do you do? You let people know about it. You share their photo’s. You buy their toys. You watch their series. Then you share the series with someone else and they tell you that they cannot view it because they cannot access Netflix. So you copy and share it with them… then they have their channel taken down for breaching copyright/piracy. Do you really think they’d still be as much of a fan if they’ve had a bad experience with the line?
How much do people in this topic actually know about piracy?
How many people here actually care about piracy Vs. those who are just flagging a Youtube video to spite someone?
Its an interesting thought to have when looking through this topic.
Overall though i just hope that people are prepared for the negative repercussions of their actions that will come from preventing people from watching JTO on other sites.
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I’m sorry, but the flagging system exists for a reason. Using the system for it’s intended purpose, IE. Reporting videos that are clearly breaking Youtube’s Community Guidelines is so far away from the concept of vigilantism that I don’t understand why you even brought it up in the first place.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with flagging an illegal video that is in violation of the rules, no matter how hard you try to string it as such. And your cries of hypocrisy does not change this.
A good deed might not negate a bad deed, you are correct. But that goes both ways. A bad deed does not negate a good deed.
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I know this, however Youtube considers mass flagging to be ‘flagging similar videos’ and if a Youtuber’s only flags are them all flagging ‘Journey To One’ content then the system will consider it mass flagging. If the same people go around flagging similar sorts of videos over and over they will be considered ‘Youtube bots’ and their channels could be taken down or negatively affected.
The Youtube help forums are full of people complaining about this occurring to them - and Youtube will not respond to help these people. I am hoping to inform people of the negative consequences because Youtube will label these good acts as bad.
I know this from personal experience from a time when i was going around flagging copyrighted content from one of the shows i enjoyed that was being uploaded and monetised by other Youtubers - i eventually received an email claiming my Youtube account was under suspicion of having ‘suspicious activity regarding flagging’ and any further flags would jeopardies the account. This could affect anyone here who is hoping to flag the videos, even if they are in the right for doing so.
I would just advise people treat this with caution and don’t immediately flag everything JTO related, because doing so quickly may be lumped with ‘suspicious activity’. If you must then space it out a bit or try to avoid doing it in quick succession.
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New, maybe. Old…I’m not so sure. While LEGO does still own the G1 media, I’m pretty sure they’re not going to come down hard on instances of it being used on Youtube, partially because it is no longer making them any money. The animations from 2015 certainly may get taken down, but they are on LEGO’s Youtube channel anyway, so I doubt compilation videos being taken away will decrease fan viewership, since they’re so easy to find regardless.
Why copy and share it with them when you could invite them over and watch it together? While I understand your perception that piracy may not be done with explicitly nefarious intent, it’s still piracy, no matter who commits it. Most kids would need a parent’s help to upload JtO, and if the parents do it willingly, they are complicit and they deserve to have the video flagged. Sure, going bananas and flagging videos indiscriminately may be a bit overzealous–people should be vigilant and cautious with whatever action they take–but fans of the show have a right to prevent it from being incorrectly used and distributed. I can almost guarantee that the amount of fans lost over flagged videos will not be astronomical. If BIONICLE is going to have a crisis based upon massive departures of fans, miffed Youtubers are going to be in the vast minority of those who leave.
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Then I suppose there ought to be no issue in flagging all of TTV’s Ninjago reviews.
After all, their descriptions include links to pirated episodes and therefore condone the pirating of them.
I’d just be enforcing the law as an upstanding citizen, right?
While I’m at it, better enlist the help of hundreds of other individuals.
If we don’t, Ninjago will surely fail financially.
Var, you may be exempt from rules on your own boards, but you are just as much bound by national law as the rest of us. Being a part of big 'ole YouTube channel doesn’t change that. If we’re going to give people flak for pirating Journey to One, then I hope you’re prepared to have the same logic directed your way.
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I believe this issue has already been answered before…to quote Eljay and Meso:
[quote=“Eljay, post:21192, topic:15529”] The difference between these two things is fairly clear and straight forward.
The episodes of NinjaGo are released on an inconsistent basis, sometimes months ahead of time in different countries. Most of the time, they’re aired by Cartoon Network Asia, but in English. This means you run the risk of reading spoilers to the series online, but having to wait until they’re on TV in your country before you can see it.
The links we post to episodes of NinjaGo are not to imply that we support piracy. It’s pretty clear we don’t. The episodes have aired, but not in the US for viewing. Netflix doesn’t work like that. The episodes are (to my knowledge) released in every country Netflix is available in all at once. It’s up there for everyone. And you can also get a free trial if you don’t feel like having a full subscription. You can’t use the excuse that you don’t have cable, or it hasn’t aired where you are.
Is there a double standard? Yes, there is. However there is an unfortunate rationale behind it that we understand, and will gladly change if Lego gets on a consistent US release schedule. It’s pretty clear we support Lego in all their endeavors, which makes it really confusing for me that you want to stir things up at this time when there’s no point in doing so. [/quote]
[quote=“Mesonak, post:21194, topic:15529”] Regarding the Ninjago video discussion: Yeah, admittedly, the double standard does exist. If Lego better communicated the release dates and scheduling for the episodes of Ninjago, perhaps we wouldn’t resort to secondhand uploads. That being said, we record reviews of the episodes based on our immediate and honest reactions to them, so watching them as soon as possible to avoid getting spoiled is almost a necessity, considering we’re public figures in the community. Spoilers can come from anywhere at any time; once, I even got a Ninjago-related plot spoiler on an Xbox message! It’s an unfortunate situation that I wouldn’t expect many people in the community to be able to relate to as easily, so I don’t fault anyone for the confusion.
With JTO, I don’t think people should post pirated uploads because, as Eljay pointed out, the release is consistent for all countries (I think, feel free to correct if that’s wrong), and Netflix is easily accessible to most people considering there’s a free trial if you don’t already have the service. There’s very little reason for people to resort to secondhand uploads. [/quote]
Now, I’m not going to comment on whether I personally accept their logic. It’s a sticky situation, and one that certainly inspires controversy, but there’s no need to act like the mods/cast members are hypocritically unaware of the situation, when it has clearly been broached before…
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Uh oh here this conversation comes. I’m pretty sure this was discussed in the 2016 discussion forum and let’s all be honest were those necessarily pirated as they came out in a country that the episodes were already released in so they are technically not leaked\pirated
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Well you see, the funny thing about upholding the rules and guidelines is that you must first actually understand them. And to do that you might want to actually try reading them.
First off, YouTube’s Community Guidelines, in particular their copyright rules, are strictly written for the content actually uploaded and hosted on YouTube.
The redistribution of copyrighted material via uploading directly onto YouTube’s platform is very much against the community guidelines that YouTube has put forth in an effort to protect copyright holders from having their content stolen from them. YouTube generates revenue based off ad impressions on each video. This means a video that does not belong to the individual uploader is still generating revenue, and none of that revenue is going to the original creator. This is done regardless of whether or not the person enables adsense on the video itself, as YouTube still runs ads on ALL videos. The only difference here is that all the revenue is going to YouTube rather then the 60/40 split with the uploader.
In this instance, YouTube is unknowingly stealing revenue from a copyright owner due to the copyrighted material being uploaded to their platform.
This is why the content guidelines are in place and why YouTube is so against copyright infringement.
In the instance that you are flagging a video that has uploaded copyrighted material, you are adhering to the guidelines and using the system as it was intended. Ergo, you are not breaking any rules, you are not a vigilante, in fact you are an upstanding citizen doing what YouTube wants you to do.
On the flipside…
Youtube’s community guidelines make no mention of deep-linking to copyrighted footage on their platform. Why? Because this is not in direct violation of any predetermined rules or laws and is not an infringement of copyright. There are no legal repercussions to deep-linking to copyrighted material on any website.
We have personally chosen to disallow deep-linking on our site because we wish to support Journey to One as best we can, and we are within our full rights to do so. Just as we are in our full rights to deep-link to the Ninjago episodes in our videos.
You can claim that this is hypocritical all you want, but it doesn’t change the facts and it doesn’t swing the law in your favor.
You are still wrong.
We are well within our rights and If you were to flag our videos for deep-linking the Ninjago episodes, you would be abusing the flag system implemented by YouTube and we would absolutely make a counter claim on any flags you make. We will win, and your account will likely be suspended. We have already addressed this Ninjago complaint at length, and we will not address it again.
Also, while we are on the subject of rules, I don’t take kindly to being threatened.
Perhaps you could use a refresher on our rules
I’ll save you some time:
Respect the staff. Respect the cast.
I’ll allow you to think about that while on a week suspension.
And I would like to remind everyone once again about our leak policy.
If you have a problem with this policy, you are free to leave whenever you wish. However while on our site I expect you to uphold them. You are absolutely free to discuss any issues you have regarding our site with us politely. If that is a concept you simply cannot grasp then you are not welcome here.
If you have complaints regarding our channel, direct them here.
If you have complaints regarding our site, direct them here.
I’ve had it up to here with the mudslinging, the backtalk, the inane rhetoric, and attempts to sway the community towards starting fights whenever the opportunity arises.
And most of all, I am tired of the appalling attitudes many of you seem to be carrying.
This will be my final word on this matter. I am done playing this game.
Shape up and get the chip off of your shoulder, or leave. My next suspension will be longer than a week.
This topic is about Journey to One and the current issue with the show being pirated. Not our channel. Let’s move back on topic please.
I applaud all of you here who have gone out of your way to try to stop YouTube accounts from re-uploading the show. Those channels are breaking the rules, and you are doing your duty as a member of YouTube by upholding the guidelines that the website has put in place. Regardless of your reason, or even your actions in the past, what you are doing now is a good thing and while it might not help much in the grand scheme of things, I’d like to think that someone working at LEGO has taken notice and appreciates the support you’ve given them.
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Ah, Piracy and Copyright, a very hot topic! Time for me to weigh in: After reading every post in this topic, I went searching the Internets for pirated episodes for Journey to One. They exist, not a lot, but they are rather easy to find, albeit I swear I didn’t watch any. I watched the first episodes of Journey to One on a friend’s Netflix account. I canceled my Netflix subscription after my free month ended a year ago. In July, I’m set to have a second job, and will definitely have enough room in my budget for another month of Netflix, JTO, and other things.
I did not pirate JTO because it was available on Netflix, and because this is the one chance Bionicle has to make a big splash and get traction in the mainstream audience. At day’s end a view is a view, yes; and people are watching it, but I theorize that most of the pirates and bootleggers are long-time fans of Bionicle. I believe that Bionicle’s best hope of reaching new fans and a new audience is Netflix and JTO. The best way for Bionicle to grow into something bigger is for people to either watch Journey to One on Netflix or buy the sets. I love Bionicle; as far as media coverage is concerned it is in its infancy, every view on Netflix counts to help it reach the heights of other beloved kids’ shows such as My Little Pony, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, and Gravity Falls just to name a few. Pirating JTO is extremely selfish, as it stunts Bionicle’s growth and stops it from living up to its full potential. I have wanted to re-open my Netflix account, but as a college student with loans to pay off, money is tight and I restrict myself to a budget. I want Bionicle to grow, to become a household name, so I refrained from pirating. While I may have pirated other things in the past, I did not feel as strongly about them as I do Bionicle. (Also, 90% of my piracy was music from old video games whose soundtrack wasn’t commercially released.) If Journey to One had been aired on TV and not uploaded to Netflix, then I may have pirated it because I don’t have TV, and can’t watch it repeatedly. However, JTO is on Netflix, so anytime I want I can just ask my roommate for 20-40 minutes of his account anytime he’s not using his computer.
I have pirated in the past, but being a passionate fan of Bionicle and JTO has significantly challenged my view on online piracy. (And I respect anything/anyone who can honestly make me re-think my values.) Maybe JTO will stay the exception, or maybe it will become the rule. I’ve been re-evaluating a lot of my habits lately, the occasional viewing of pirated material being one of them.
TL;DR
JTO is still small enough for piracy to be majorly detrimental. Let’s keep an eye out for pirates and nip ‘em in the bud.
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I wouldn’t say questioning staff is disrespectful.
I’m pretty sure only copyright holders can flag them, hence why it says “Infringes MY Rights” in the copyright section.
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Just flagged it
By gosh, Var, you just ripped that guy to shreds… that was incredible. 11/10 would read again.
Anyway, I’m always annoyed when people pirate crap. I mean seriously, what do you gain? It’s not like you get any money from it, unless you want money for it, then it’s even more illegal.
Maybe they think they’re doing some sort of Robin Hood act by uploading it so people who don’t have Netflix can watch it without having to pay for it.
Ugh.
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Except that wasn’t what was disrespectful. He threatened Var’s channel and he doesn’t take kindly to that.
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Once again, this topic is not about discussing the merits of our channel or how we manage our content. I appreciate the support, and I understand the criticism, but please direct these discussions to their appropriate topics.
Any further posts deemed off topic will be deleted, thanks.
(Also please avoid making three word responses. These types of posts do not add any meaningful discussion to the boards and merely clutter the topic).
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I found more on youtube that need to be taken off. The only problem is trying to find the right option to flag them because there is nothing that says “flag for copyright violation”. Stupid YouTube is so obsessed with copyright violation yet they don’t have a button to flag it when there is a legitimate reason to.
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Yeah that is the hard part. Finding which option to use. I don’t want to get in trouble my self. But I must flag these videos.
Well I found one and flagged it for spam.
I haven’t read the YouTube T&Cs, but it sounds like you’re not really supposed to flag for copyright infringement on other people’s behalf.
Maybe it would be better to email the URLs to LEGO so that they can take whatever action they see fit. Or maybe to Netflix, since it is their series.
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######This is why I love these topics, we can see Var’s calm fury that sweeps through our community and knocks down the unwanted uprisings of disrespectful members. (Also, I’d like to ask for a not-suspension, please.)</span class=“spoiler”>
I can fully agree on anything that is against pirating other shows from one platform to another. And, as I have said in one of my recent posts, piracy is also a crime as Grammar Nazism jaywalking or theft. Sadly, we do not have the means to monitor what gets pirated and what does not, but if we keep out eyes peeled, we can spot the pirated stuff, and report it (or flag it, depending on the site).
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