All-Star Varsity's New Video Policy

[mamabear]

So does this mean 2by2 is going out of business or?...

Omg [emoji50] totally didn’t mean to start a rumor like that! They just popped into my mind as I read the announcement. They can still shoot in the gyms etc.. it just sucks that a company that relies on using footage of individual athletes from comps will probably be affected.


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[wishfulthinking]

Hey Varsity: get bent.

 

[CheerBank]

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From talking to parents of kids in other sports they have not had STP that require 3 nights when only 1 night is needed. They have not had the issues many in Cheer have.

For soccer tournament we had in PA this past May, it was a 2 night minimum I believe. The time we played would have allowed anyone who wanted to only stay one night. Three nights is beyond ridiculous.

 

[MissCongeniality]

I'm not a lawyer and I'm not about to tell people what is and what is not legal based on my opinion. With that said, I hope people will read the above legal statement on live streaming that is written by a lawyer. It does not say live streaming boils down to commercial versus private usage as you do, and in fact specifically states many times "whether for commercial or private use...." Here's what I will say with confidence about any corporation, they are going to cover their butt in legal matters. They are going to tell people not to do it, one because they don't want to be pulled into a law suit and two, when Suzie starts whining "but, big 'ol bad corporation didn't tell me I couldn't" they can pull out their policy.
If I can be sued because I didn't have permission to live stream the art work that happened to be on the wall in the background, I call that "a different beast". I'm failing to see what this has to do with Grandma Josephine, Grandpa Ed or their financial status when you are still allowed to video and share it with them.

ETA: I also want to point out the above post written by a lawyer states that many of the laws that apply to live streaming apply to commercial video, as well, which is exactly what Varsity's new policy is dealing with.

If you read what I wrote... I said that for "most cheer parents" it boils down to being able to share with Grandma Josephine and Grandpa Ed and whether this Varsity rule is going to infringe on that. That is what (MOST) are worried about here. Can they still go live on Facebook or periscope and share sweet Suzie's cheer routine as it happens in Dallas. The reality is, legal opinion aside, because yes, you could take on the rule if it impacted you and maybe win.... 5 years of legal battle later... but does that help you in the here and now while it matters? Parents just want to understand what this means to them.

Oh and by the way ... from the article:
Commercial or Private Use – if your live streaming project is for commercial use there are a host of legal concerns.

I didn't say that just because Mom and Dad are not commercial (most of the time) that gives them unfettered right to do anything... but that it definitely makes a difference... even more so when it is in a public location.

Regardless... we can nitpick and opine and quote legal opinions back and forth... for those on this board what I think they really want to understand is what are we still allowed or not allowed to do without potentially causing harm to our child's team. And I don't think the Varsity rule intends to limit what parent's sharing with Grandma and Grandpa have always done... I do think it is aimed more at the video blog type programs/shows/companies that are cashing in. Varsity is covering their butts but at the same time...we all know if there is money to be made... they want to corner that market. (and please, before you go defending Varsity - I am not saying that is wrong of them. We live in a capitalistic country. Most businesses seek to be as profitable as possible. I work in business. In a legal department to boot. My company is no different.)

 

[Summer Yael]

i find that crazy. First varsity adds two new divisions now this. the need to realize not everyone in cheer and also the families cant afford livestream. the cheer industry seems to be all about money now. At this rate only millionares can cheer if middle tolower class people cant even enjoy the full experience

 

[Official OWECheer]

So were they worried about commercial gain made from something that belonged to someone else when they produced apparel with the *trademarked* Beatles and Rolling Stones logos? Please.

 

[MissCongeniality]

So were they worried about commercial gain made from something that belonged to someone else when they produced apparel with the *trademarked* Beatles and Rolling Stones logos? Please.

ha! right? I still don't quite understand how they were able to do that... but maybe somehow the design of the logo falls onto the program ordering and they sign off that they "own" rights which, if someone were to approach varsity about it, they would say "see lookie here at this document the gym signed saying they owned the rights to this logo"

 

[these girls]

i think its bull****. i get its probably due to the fact that so many people live streamed their worlds feeds the past year or two, and varsity is pissed.
but people werent making money off varsity by live streaming, cause it was free. So i dont get why varsity thinks they are losing money. The people who wouldnt buy the stream last year, arent suddenly going to buy it this year.
on top of the fact that varsity takes a whole month to upload any form of worlds content......

people will still just record video and upload it the very next day or two WITH sound... varsity is still going to be pissed, because they have to spend all those resources stalking video sites to copyright them...

PLUS half the time the live streams you can purchase don't work well and Varsity sure doesn't refund money when their streams fail. LAME.


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[catlady]

Oh and by the way ... from the article:
Commercial or Private Use – if your live streaming project is for commercial use there are a host of legal concerns.

I didn't say that just because Mom and Dad are not commercial (most of the time) that gives them unfettered right to do anything... but that it definitely makes a difference... even more so when it is in a public location.

... for those on this board what I think they really want to understand is what are we still allowed or not allowed to do without potentially causing harm to our child's team.

It's answered in their first release. For parents and kids dealing with non-commercial, don't hire someone to film anything cheer related, and don't use live stream apps. Why? Unlike what you keep saying, most public places (including convention centers) have copyrighted material and artwork in them and unless you have permission to film them (even in the background), whether personal or commercial, you can be sued or tied into a lawsuit if you have hired a person that didn't follow the law. Public or private doesn't matter, and the live streaming apps have legally covered their butts by saying it's on the user to make sure they have permission to film anything and everything that's copyrighted.

I'm not emotional when it comes to business, but that doesn't mean I don't realize or get angry when something effects my checkbook. You and some others are very vocal about being anti-Varsity and it doesn't bother me until I feel the information is just blatantly untrue. New policies dealing with Copyright, ACA (must be US citizens change), and STP issues are all federal, state, and city law driven and have nothing to do with Varsity except they have to change their policies to follow the law.

 

[UCFKnights07]

i just dont see the rule working very well. Some stupid kid is still going to break the rules about filming and sharing a livestream, i mean we all know thats bound to happen. And some fan sitting way in the back of the milkhouse is still probably going to risk it and film anyways...

kids are dumb at the teenage age, which is fine. But i dont know how varsity thinks its going to control that many teenagers......

 

[catlady]

@UFCKnights07 Frankly, no one wants to police this or enforce the rules, but no one wants to be held responsible for someone else's illegal activity either. If, or when, someone decides to live stream and a production company or artist's decides to sue, most people aren't even going to realize what they did. If they hire a lawyer, that lawyer will try to prove negligence on Varsity's part for not informing their customers they do not have permission to live stream copyrighted material in the venues, hotels, restaurants they do business with during their event. It's only a matter of time before gyms follow their lead. These copyright infringement fines goes into the six digits and my kids have been warned that our new residence will be under I-75 in a cardboard box if they're caught and fined to the fullest extent.

 

[DanaBurkey]

So does this mean they are going to stand around with security and watch each and every person who is using their phone to make sure they are not doing a live video? Will they yell at people doing regular videos?

I vlog at comps all season and use bits and pieces, never posted live though. I'm worried they will accuse someone like myself or other people that do similar filming of live streaming.

This all just seems like more hoops to make people jump through. Hopefully with enough complains, push back, or even teams not attending events they will see that trying to control things like who is posting videos to social media live versus loading it right after something is done will help them see that policing in this manner is unnecessary and LAME!

 

[wondervvivi]

Last December I competed at Varsitys German All level Championship, where they had the same rule. Again and again a voice would say that recording videos (not only going live) is forbidden and you could get disqualified. I thought it's a move to sell the dvds from the competition because when you have no video of suzies routine you need a dvd. Well, our coach bought the paket which included dvds. But we never got them lol. Another thing is that in germany all competitions are live streamed on YouTube for free. I wonder if this is going to change this year. Also later I competed on Varsitys Elite Championship where the rule didn't exist.

 

[catlady]

Last December I competed at Varsitys German All level Championship, where they had the same rule. Again and again a voice would say that recording videos (not only going live) is forbidden and you could get disqualified. I thought it's a move to sell the dvds from the competition because when you have no video of suzies routine you need a dvd. Well, our coach bought the paket which included dvds. But we never got them lol. Another thing is that in germany all competitions are live streamed on YouTube for free. I wonder if this is going to change this year. Also later I competed on Varsitys Elite Championship where the rule didn't exist.

Germany has some of the most strict copyright infringement penalties including huge fines and jail time, and it appears the US is following their lead.

Internet pirates walk a fine line in Germany | Germany | DW | 11.11.2016
Warning on Illegal Downloads in Germany

Section 2 of the German Copyright Act (Urheberrechtsgesetz – UrhG) provides a catalogue of protectable types of works. The list is exemplary and non-exhaustive:

• Literary works, such as written works, speeches and computer programs
• Musical works
• Pantomime works including works of the art of dance
• Works of fine arts including works of architecture and of applied art as well as drafts of such works
• Photographic works including such works which are created similarly to photographic works
• Cinematographic works including such works which are created similarly to photographic works
• Illustrations of scientific or technical nature, such as drawings, maps, sketches, tables and sculptural representations.

How did they identify me and find my address?
German law firms sending warning letters usually hire specialized third-party services that are scanning P2P nodes and clients, recording IP addresses that are currently downloading illegally in Germany. They are then authorized by law to ask your internet provider to disclose any information linked to that IP address. This is how they obtained your private details.

@DanaBurkey based on what I'm reading, no one is going to have to stand around and police you. Thanks to technology it appears lawyers have what they need to scan, retrieve and serve.

 

[Eyes On The Prize]

Not quite sure what CheerUpdates is up to these days - does he post competition videos on his twitter? If so, is he gonna ban himself from posting "illegal" Varsity event videos?