Buying off fiverr

[steveom]

I bought some videos I need for my business off fiverr. I got fitness videos however they are showing a famous fitness instructor. I did ask the fiverr person if we can use them for our app and he said yes they have permission from the instructor to resell the videos to us. If we use them and the instructor ends coming to us for copyright, do we have a leg to stand on? Thanks

 

[paulears]

Nope. Who did you buy them off, and what did you pay? Are they commercial videos or special one-offs. Are they new or second hand, what format are they on - as on elderly tape, or USB drives etc. You then mention an app? This again will be a very different distribution method. If he said he has permission to resell them to you, that in itself is very odd. The rights in the video belong to the creator. Did they transfer rights to the fiverr seller? Did they sell them the ownership or did they simply give them a right that they have tried to transfer to you. Do the Judge Judy test. Look at the evidence you have and imagine you are in her court. Let me see the ownership documents? Show me where he gives you permission? Prove to me the person who sold you the videos had the right to do so. So I'd simply want to see a proper statement of what you actually bought? Ownership, or rights? Or nothing? Of course the easiest would be to contact the famous person and check. My guess will be a big fat no!

 

[fisicx]

the videos you are buying are almost certainly pirated. The fact they are being sold on that souk is enough to suggest you could be in all sorts of trouble. Don’t do it.

 

[MBE2017]

As paulears suggested, I would want to see the agreement where your supplier has the legal rights to resell, and ensure it covers all kinds of uses of the material involved.

They could for instance have the right to use on personal websites but not commercial ones, or have no permission at all.

The devil is in the detail.

 

[paulears]

When I licence music, I'm very generous and very specific on usage. I'll make it very clear they are free to use the music (as an example) for 3 years, for any purpose, anywhere, in any medium. They may not sell or re-assign this licence without my permission. At the end of the 3 year period, all rights revert back to me. I rarely ever sell the rights. A couple of times a buyout has been requested and I found it very hard to assess the value - after all it's background music/go to sleep music in the main, and never going to be popular.

With video it is a bit different as they sort of have less lifespan - if you make a video about industrial washing machines, then after 5 years, the machinery in it is ancient -so the video dies.

The music in it, however, I want back. What I do is set the date the licence expires and then I stick them on Spotify and YouTube etc - they then generate a little money again.

The person who performed in the video may own the video, or have been a paid participant. It's likely he or she had a contract too, perhaps with points (percentages of income from it) so if they don't benefit from your use, and find out, their legal people will be interested if you are making money. It s not just Warner Brothers and big studios, it's small companies feeding their families. Being frank - why on earth were you sourcing business videos on Fiverr? It's just not the place for rights controlled products.

 

[Lind]

Ask the person from Fiverr for something that proves their right to sell the video. Unfortunately, I'm almost certain he won't give you anything. It's a pity you paid money. Maybe you should ask for a return.
I don't know much about copyright law, but in my opinion, this situation looks suspicious.

 

[YasmeenLondon]

As others have mentioned, most probably the video is pirated, but using copyrighted material is against Fiver TOS, so you might have recourse for a full refund