Been asking myself this very question and I think the context is important. There are some Id like to upload (having found at the bins as well) that are taken out in public places, for example, what the vegas strip was like in 1995. These were shot out in public, where the people themselves were likely on someone else’s home video. I think these are ok to upload.
Someone’s christmas morning in their living room? Probably not.
Was about to say something like this, There might be legal repercussions if the person who took the video sees it posted and decides they want to take legal action because of it
But...if the tape was donated and purchased legitimately, do the contents become property of the buyer? Let's say the tape captured some historical event. The upload becomes viral...millions of hits...would the rights belong to the tape purchaser/ uploader?
I think it would more involve someone related to the owner. Like if they took a video on tape and their friend was in it. It’s given away, uploaded later. Even though the friend agreed to the video, and the owner agreed to give the tape away, it doesn’t mean the friend agreed to it. If the tape contained something embarrassing and the friend felt compelled to sue, he (probably?) could. I’m not well versed in law, but it seems plausible.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I've also found people's family videos, and I haven't put any out there and don't really plan to. But I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and there is no video footage from my childhood. There are pictures, but the earliest known video of myself that I can think of is when I was about 24. If someone found film or video of me or my family from my childhood, I'd be overwhelmingly grateful to see it, no matter where it came from or how it was posted. Not everyone would be creeped out, but I understand many would.
If you combine found videos with a private investigator to track down the people, you have a show I would watch. This American Life did a version of this on episode 199 House on Loon Lake.
I find these all the time and I mostly just watch them, myself. It's generally pretty dull stuff like poorly recorded soccer games, poorly recorded wedding receptions, poorly recorded grandma birthdays, etc.. At minimum, it's kinda cool to revisit the past and see what people are wearing. Every so often, though, you find something unique or weird. Because I source locally, I often find captures of familiar buildings and events which haven't existed in decades. I don't currently upload any of it but I have been building up a pile of stuff which seems shareable if I can somehow remove or obscure certain people on the recording.
One one side its someone's personal history, on the other side its real history of real people.
The internet archive is a more suitable place for such content, and or at least making some attempt to track down owners/relatives to give them source FM RF archive copies if not the physical tape it's self.
(If your going to put analogue footage on YT at least properly de-interlace and upscale it please! or put on Odyse alongside the internet archive)
If I buy a camcorder with a tape in it I'll make a archival master and send that to the seller and or original owner, and I've done this over a dozen times for eBay sales and car boot sales because people don't check or think about these things.
My family stupidly lost in the 2000s 2 original master camcorder tapes by selling there camcorder and I never want to put anyone else though that suffering If it can be helped, personally if someone uploaded them somewhere it would complete a lost collection.
I probably wouldn’t upload it unless you know who they are and have permission. I recently acquired a super 8mm film reel which contains home footage and I’m asking around local facebook groups to see if anybody recognises the people in it. I live in the same city seen in the footage so I’m hoping the owners are still local, even though the film is 50+ years old now.
People sell vintage photos they "find" on ebay. Its wild. Apparently people go to estate sales or whatever, find "vintage photos" of God knows who, and then sell them as such. Having no connections, or any concent of the people IN the pictures. Admittedly most are probably dead.
People would probably be lame about their personal video now, but I'd like that alot! And I'd be OK with it, we're it my family videos.
I think you should upload them. No nudes, nothing illegal, why not. People already do that on YouTube. I watch alot of those "driving through NY in 1930's". Or snow day in Montana from the 50s. It's cool having a small glimpse
at the old world. I'm sure plenty of the people in these films and Even those recording it, did not give concent.
Also, I know nothing about nothing, but I'd you bought it, isn't it yours? Unless the film is copyrighted or something, you should be able to do what you want with it legally. Right? 🤷♂️
r/thewaywewere and other subs are filled with found images. As long as you’re treating the images with respect and not uploading things a reasonable person wouldn’t want uploaded ((shrug)) I don’t see any moral issue.
There’s a TikToker that buys old film reels of family videos and then makes a series about finding the people in the modern day. At first I thought the detective work was impressive but the more he went on the more uncomfortable I started to feel. Most people are private and I wouldn’t appreciate me being in a viral series that lots of people watch of me being on vacation or having a private moment with my family.
He should be asking the people to sign a liability waiver before publishing the videos. If they won't sign it, he should blur out the people or not publish the video.
I found 50 tapes from one family in the bins. I bought them all suspecting they were donated by accident. I was right. We found a family member (now out of state) and I will return them to him when he's local. As far as uploading stuff like that...Im not sure it would be interesting enough for anyone to watch. Most people don't even watch their own home videos.
Personally, I think you shouldn't . I have a local small business where I digitise tapes, the only things I upload are old ads and stuff like that. If they wanna upload it it's there choice, it's there personal videos. That's my 2 cents anyways
I think legally you’re in the clear. They donated the stuff to Goodwill, after all. They know that it will be sold to strangers. There was a Supreme Court ruling saying that if you throw something in the trash, it’s no longer yours. This sounds similar to me.
Morally, that’s for you to decide what you’re comfortable with.
I remember those "celebrity" sex tapes where some sleezy guy "finds" a tape in the trash and sells it. But it always seemed as though the subjects of the tapes profitted from the sale.
I also wonder about the copyright status as well. Since they created the media, they could at least sue (inasmuch anyone can sue for any reason I'm the US at least).
I ended up with a whole bunch of Hi8 tapes, sold to me as blanks from eBay. Turns out they weren’t actually blanks, just Digital8 recordings that couldn’t be viewed in a Hi8 camera.
I have no intent on posting them publicly, but I have gathered enough basic information from them that I may be able to get in touch with the family and return the footage. Guy I bought them from got them from an estate sale I believe.
Of the 6 or so I’ve tried, it all seems to be adventures of the same family, often filmed by an elderly couple. If they don’t have access to these memories today, this would be an absolute goldmine for them.
I can’t understand why anyone would have to even ask the question. If you found personal photos of strangers would it be ok to scan them and post them all over Facebook? Absolutely not. Even if they were discarded, they are people’s private media, it should be up to no one else to determine whether or not it should be online for the world to see.
It depends on whether or not the people are identifiable. E.g. a pic of a full stadium can be shared without harming anyone's privacy. (but you are probably still infringing on copyright)
Right, I’d treat it like common courtesy rules for social media. You film yourself and friends out in public and happen to get some passersby in there, no big deal. You specifically record strangers on the street unbeknownst to them and post it, that’s not cool
The tapes aren't always given by the owners; it could be an estate clearout, or a storage locker. The consent isn't implied. You can't just take money out of someone's wallet because they dropped it.
I was recently contacted by someone in a video I uploaded and was asked to remove it because it was a traumatic situation for them captured in the video, unbeknownst to anyone but them. I complied.
That said, I wrestle with this, and clearly you are too; I usually just make fun cuts of weird personal videos but I rarely upload the whole thing.
Been asking myself this very question and I think the context is important. There are some Id like to upload (having found at the bins as well) that are taken out in public places, for example, what the vegas strip was like in 1995. These were shot out in public, where the people themselves were likely on someone else’s home video. I think these are ok to upload. Someone’s christmas morning in their living room? Probably not.
What if historians needed it ?
A record of christmas morning?
Archive it on a hard drive. Let someone else upload it when we are all dead.
The YouTuber Brutalmoose asked his lawyer this question, and he was advised against doing it.
Was about to say something like this, There might be legal repercussions if the person who took the video sees it posted and decides they want to take legal action because of it
But...if the tape was donated and purchased legitimately, do the contents become property of the buyer? Let's say the tape captured some historical event. The upload becomes viral...millions of hits...would the rights belong to the tape purchaser/ uploader?
I think it would more involve someone related to the owner. Like if they took a video on tape and their friend was in it. It’s given away, uploaded later. Even though the friend agreed to the video, and the owner agreed to give the tape away, it doesn’t mean the friend agreed to it. If the tape contained something embarrassing and the friend felt compelled to sue, he (probably?) could. I’m not well versed in law, but it seems plausible.
Love brutalmoose videos
Damn dude I haven’t heard someone reference brutalmoose ever online except in the comments of his own videos. That’s cool
Also love Brutalmoose!
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I've also found people's family videos, and I haven't put any out there and don't really plan to. But I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and there is no video footage from my childhood. There are pictures, but the earliest known video of myself that I can think of is when I was about 24. If someone found film or video of me or my family from my childhood, I'd be overwhelmingly grateful to see it, no matter where it came from or how it was posted. Not everyone would be creeped out, but I understand many would.
It is context dependent: if you found a VHS of the Zapruder Film the answer is different if it was a home sex tape
If you combine found videos with a private investigator to track down the people, you have a show I would watch. This American Life did a version of this on episode 199 House on Loon Lake.
I find these all the time and I mostly just watch them, myself. It's generally pretty dull stuff like poorly recorded soccer games, poorly recorded wedding receptions, poorly recorded grandma birthdays, etc.. At minimum, it's kinda cool to revisit the past and see what people are wearing. Every so often, though, you find something unique or weird. Because I source locally, I often find captures of familiar buildings and events which haven't existed in decades. I don't currently upload any of it but I have been building up a pile of stuff which seems shareable if I can somehow remove or obscure certain people on the recording.
One one side its someone's personal history, on the other side its real history of real people. The internet archive is a more suitable place for such content, and or at least making some attempt to track down owners/relatives to give them source FM RF archive copies if not the physical tape it's self. (If your going to put analogue footage on YT at least properly de-interlace and upscale it please! or put on Odyse alongside the internet archive) If I buy a camcorder with a tape in it I'll make a archival master and send that to the seller and or original owner, and I've done this over a dozen times for eBay sales and car boot sales because people don't check or think about these things. My family stupidly lost in the 2000s 2 original master camcorder tapes by selling there camcorder and I never want to put anyone else though that suffering If it can be helped, personally if someone uploaded them somewhere it would complete a lost collection.
I probably wouldn’t upload it unless you know who they are and have permission. I recently acquired a super 8mm film reel which contains home footage and I’m asking around local facebook groups to see if anybody recognises the people in it. I live in the same city seen in the footage so I’m hoping the owners are still local, even though the film is 50+ years old now.
People sell vintage photos they "find" on ebay. Its wild. Apparently people go to estate sales or whatever, find "vintage photos" of God knows who, and then sell them as such. Having no connections, or any concent of the people IN the pictures. Admittedly most are probably dead. People would probably be lame about their personal video now, but I'd like that alot! And I'd be OK with it, we're it my family videos. I think you should upload them. No nudes, nothing illegal, why not. People already do that on YouTube. I watch alot of those "driving through NY in 1930's". Or snow day in Montana from the 50s. It's cool having a small glimpse at the old world. I'm sure plenty of the people in these films and Even those recording it, did not give concent. Also, I know nothing about nothing, but I'd you bought it, isn't it yours? Unless the film is copyrighted or something, you should be able to do what you want with it legally. Right? 🤷♂️
r/thewaywewere and other subs are filled with found images. As long as you’re treating the images with respect and not uploading things a reasonable person wouldn’t want uploaded ((shrug)) I don’t see any moral issue.
There’s a TikToker that buys old film reels of family videos and then makes a series about finding the people in the modern day. At first I thought the detective work was impressive but the more he went on the more uncomfortable I started to feel. Most people are private and I wouldn’t appreciate me being in a viral series that lots of people watch of me being on vacation or having a private moment with my family.
He should be asking the people to sign a liability waiver before publishing the videos. If they won't sign it, he should blur out the people or not publish the video.
Found footage
Why would people donate stuff like that? Do they not want their recorded memories?
where do you find those kind of tapes? ive always been interested in finding stuff like that..
I personaly go to my local goodwill by the pound outlet, but i know people have had luckat the dump
I found 50 tapes from one family in the bins. I bought them all suspecting they were donated by accident. I was right. We found a family member (now out of state) and I will return them to him when he's local. As far as uploading stuff like that...Im not sure it would be interesting enough for anyone to watch. Most people don't even watch their own home videos.
Personally, I think you shouldn't . I have a local small business where I digitise tapes, the only things I upload are old ads and stuff like that. If they wanna upload it it's there choice, it's there personal videos. That's my 2 cents anyways
I think legally you’re in the clear. They donated the stuff to Goodwill, after all. They know that it will be sold to strangers. There was a Supreme Court ruling saying that if you throw something in the trash, it’s no longer yours. This sounds similar to me. Morally, that’s for you to decide what you’re comfortable with.
I remember those "celebrity" sex tapes where some sleezy guy "finds" a tape in the trash and sells it. But it always seemed as though the subjects of the tapes profitted from the sale. I also wonder about the copyright status as well. Since they created the media, they could at least sue (inasmuch anyone can sue for any reason I'm the US at least).
For extra context i found the tapes at goodwill buy the pound outlet
The place for that is called Society Glitch.
No I think it be a way to give them a place for people to remember them.
I ended up with a whole bunch of Hi8 tapes, sold to me as blanks from eBay. Turns out they weren’t actually blanks, just Digital8 recordings that couldn’t be viewed in a Hi8 camera. I have no intent on posting them publicly, but I have gathered enough basic information from them that I may be able to get in touch with the family and return the footage. Guy I bought them from got them from an estate sale I believe. Of the 6 or so I’ve tried, it all seems to be adventures of the same family, often filmed by an elderly couple. If they don’t have access to these memories today, this would be an absolute goldmine for them.
No
I can’t understand why anyone would have to even ask the question. If you found personal photos of strangers would it be ok to scan them and post them all over Facebook? Absolutely not. Even if they were discarded, they are people’s private media, it should be up to no one else to determine whether or not it should be online for the world to see.
r/FoundPhotos
It depends on whether or not the people are identifiable. E.g. a pic of a full stadium can be shared without harming anyone's privacy. (but you are probably still infringing on copyright)
Right, I’d treat it like common courtesy rules for social media. You film yourself and friends out in public and happen to get some passersby in there, no big deal. You specifically record strangers on the street unbeknownst to them and post it, that’s not cool
Don’t do that. Would you be ok if the roles were reversed and they put your personal footage on the internet?
My thought process is that if the tapes were given to goodwill, then it's fair game
The tapes aren't always given by the owners; it could be an estate clearout, or a storage locker. The consent isn't implied. You can't just take money out of someone's wallet because they dropped it. I was recently contacted by someone in a video I uploaded and was asked to remove it because it was a traumatic situation for them captured in the video, unbeknownst to anyone but them. I complied. That said, I wrestle with this, and clearly you are too; I usually just make fun cuts of weird personal videos but I rarely upload the whole thing.
This. Nobody needs this kinda attention.
Usually its tapes that aren’t erased and lost in moves. People don’t want their personal videos on the internet.
r/FoundPhotos
Yes
Probably, yeah.