UpperSports Copyright Tips

Posting copyright-infringing content can lead to the termination of your account, and possibly monetary damages if a copyright owner decides to take legal action. Below are some guidelines to help you determine whether your video is eligible or whether it infringes someone else's copyright.

As a general matter, we at UpperSports respect the rights of artists and creators, and hope you will work with us to keep our community a creative, legal and positive experience for everyone, including artists and creators.

How To Make Sure Your Video Does Not Infringe Someone Else's Copyrights

Be sure that all components of your video are your original creation—even the audio portion. For example, if you use an audio track of a sound recording owned by a record label without that record label's permission, your video may be infringing the copyrights of others, and may be subject to removal.

Commercial Content Is Copyrighted

Once we become aware of an unauthorized use, we will remove the video promptly. That is the law.

Some examples of copyrighted content are:

A Few Guiding Principles

What Will Happen If You Upload Infringing Content

Anytime UpperSports becomes aware that a video or any part of a video on our site infringes the copyrights of a third party, we will take it down from the site. We are required to do so by law. If you believe that a video on the site infringes your copyright, send us a copyright notice and we will take it down. Accounts determined to be repeat infringers may be subject to termination. Users with suspended or terminated accounts are prohibited from creating new accounts or accessing UpperSports's community features.

Using Some Copyrighted Content in Your Videos

While videos that are direct copies of someone else's content are clear copyright violations, there are certain very limited circumstances in which the use of very short clips of a copyrighted video or song may be legal even without permission. This is known as the "fair use" principle of copyright law.

To determine whether a particular use of a short clip of a copyrighted video or song qualifies as a "fair use," you need to analyze and weigh four factors that are outlined in the U.S. copyright statute. Unfortunately, the weighing of these four factors is often quite subjective and complex. For this reason, it's often difficult to determine whether a particular use is a "fair use." If the copyright owner disagrees with your interpretation of fair use, the copyright owner may chose to resolve the dispute in court. If the court agrees with the copyright owner, then you are infringing the copyrights of the owner and you may be liable for monetary damages.

However, we cannot offer you legal advice in these matters. If you have questions about your situation, we suggest you consult legal counsel.

If you would like to learn more about the principle of fair use, below are a few links to websites that discuss it. Please remember, however, that your decision about whether and how to exercise your fair use rights is solely yours, and we at UpperSports bear no responsibility for your decision.

Fair Use Links on the Web

DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT YOUR ATTORNEYS, AND THE INFORMATION WE PRESENT HERE IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. WE PRESENT THIS INFORMATION FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.

Copyright Infringement Notification

To file a copyright infringement notification with us, you will need to send a written communication that includes substantially the following (please consult your legal counsel or see Section 512(c)(3) of the Copyright Act to confirm these requirements):

  1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
  2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
  3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit UpperSports to locate the material. Providing URLs in the body of an email is the best way to help us locate content quickly.
  4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit UpperSports to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.
  5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
  6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Such written notice should be sent to us:

USA Address:
UpperSports Media Inc.
Box 1417, Sumas, WA, 98295

Canadian Address:
UpperSports Media Inc.
510 - 609 Grandville St.
Vancouver, BC, Canada V7Y 1G5

Contact Info:
Email: info@UpperSports.com

Please note that under Section 512(f) any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity is infringing may be subject to liability for damages.

Please also note that the information provided in this legal notice may be forwarded to the person who provided the allegedly infringing content.

Claimant information will be published on the UpperSports site in place of disabled content.

Please note that under Section 512(f) of the Copyright Act, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification may be subject to liability. Please also be advised that we enforce a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of subscribers who are repeat infringers.