Forum Discussion

alandala's avatar
alandala
Visitor
14 years ago

Copyright rules when distributing foreign channels?

I would like to play live stream as well as recorded shows from some Romanian channels on Roku and I would like to find out what copyright rules apply for distributing foreign channels on Roku in US.
I would like to find out if I need to first sign an agreement with these channels or can I just go ahead and do it? Is IPTV (and Roku in particular) subject to any copyright laws when dealing with foreign channels ?

Thanks in advance.
Roku Developer Program

1 Reply

  • RokuJoel's avatar
    RokuJoel
    Binge Watcher
    14 years ago
    Generally speaking, you can't distribute content legally without asking for and receiving permission in writing from the content owners. What you do in the privacy of your own home is up to you, legal or not, but if you are going to distribute that content, you need to have the rights.

    Some people of course go ahead and do it anyway, the content owners may or may not approve, or care one way or the other. If a content owner has a problem with what you are doing they will usually have their lawyers send a DMCA takedown notice, and the person publishing has I think 48 hours to send a counter-notice if they believe they are not in violation.

    For us, this is a huge drain on our resources that would be better spent getting legitimate channels published.

    Also, many companies that have some rights to distribute content misunderstand the scope of their rights and include content they don't have the US rights for in their lineup and we have to do the DMCA dance and get them to remove the content, or we have to pull their channel out of the channel store.

    Bottom line rule: if you don't have explicit US rights to it, don't distribute it in the US.

    As to Romanian content, there is already at least one Romanian channel, Boboc TV, you could perhaps talk to them about making more content available on Roku.

    - Joel