Roku Developer Program

[F_Zero45]

Can someone give me some info or point me in the right direction on creating a streaming channel and how to make it available in the Roku store? Wanting to start this hobby. The idea is to stream a channel NOT to create a on demand playlist that viewers can choose what to watch. Exactly how your typical cable channel is. I'd like to do this the legal way not to stream movies/shows I do not have permissions/rights to stream. Thanks guys

[mikebdoss]

Go to http://www.roku.com/developer, download the SDK, read the FAQs, and play with the examples. Gotta start there.

Do you already own a channel you want to stream live?

[kc8pql]

http://forums.roku.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=36014#p232851

[F_Zero45]

"mikebdoss" wrote:

Do you already own a channel you want to stream live?

I do not own a channel. I'm starting from nothing. What do you mean by "own"

[mikebdoss]

"F_Zero45" wrote:

"mikebdoss" wrote:

Do you already own a channel you want to stream live?

I do not own a channel. I'm starting from nothing. What do you mean by "own"

Own the rights. Only a content owner can legally stream a channel of their material. Were you looking to stream existing cable channels, or something similar?

[F_Zero45]

"mikebdoss" wrote:

"F_Zero45" wrote:

"mikebdoss" wrote:

Do you already own a channel you want to stream live?

I do not own a channel. I'm starting from nothing. What do you mean by "own"

Own the rights. Only a content owner can legally stream a channel of their material. Were you looking to stream existing cable channels, or something similar?

I get ya and that's what I'm wanting to do. I 've seen lots of channels that I don't believe have the streaming rights. I want to avoid any legal problems. How do I get the rights to show a program?

[gonzotek]

"F_Zero45" wrote:
I get ya and that's what I'm wanting to do. I 've seen lots of channels that I don't believe have the streaming rights. I want to avoid any legal problems. How do I get the rights to show a program?

Find out who the copyright holder is. Depending on the content, this may be an individual or corporation, or even a government. Some rights holders expressly give permission for certain uses of their content by assigning it a permissive license, such as some of the Creative Commons licenses. Other rights holders will want to negotiate a fee in exchange for a license for specific uses of the content, such as streaming to a secured set-top box like Roku. Still other rights holders will not want to license their content for any third party use whatsoever.

There are other rights acquisition wrinkles that may have to be addressed as well, such as the content being used at the international level. The rights holder may themselves only be able to assign you streaming permissions for the US, or for another country or set of countries, but not world-wide. Navigating international Intellectual Property laws can be tricky.

On the other hand, if this is content you've produced yourself, without relying on other people's copyrighted material, you're free to do as you wish, as you are the copyright holder.

[F_Zero45]

Aren't some older movies and shows public domain?

Also Channels like NowhereTV and CrypticTV, which are both great channels and what game me my inspiration, how are they streaming newer content? I assume they have the "rights" to stream their shows/movies? Or do TV shows have different laws to stream vs movies

[cryptictv]

At CrypticTV we have a good working relationship with many independent filmmakers as well as places like NBCUniversal, Disney, Comcast, and other distribution houses. In order to obtain licensing rights to play material that has a copyright, you must contact the copyright holder and work out an agreement.

Thanks for the kind words about our channel!