$150K punitive damages | Other people's videos (OPVs)

Yes, the two topics in the subject are related. It's a combo of a good story and a "this is what I do" but you do what works for you. Should you embed other people's videos from YouTube, TikTok or IG in your articles? Not "can" you but "should" you? I liken this question to "should you link out to other sites?" The answer to both questions, as far as I'm concerned, is yes. This question reminds me of the time some over-zealous Silicon Valley lawyer sent me a three page nasty copyright infringement letter threatening to take me to the cleaners for thousands in infringement damages and $150,000 in punitive damages. Why? Because I embedded his client's YouTube video on my site 🤣🤣. --------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Promotion You guessed it. The Koala AI Writer lifetime deal. It's a stacked deal which makes it so good. Not only is it a lifetime deal but with my link you also get a 30% discount. This deal ends in a few short days (Monday, March 27). => [Click here for the Koala lifetime deal]()​ The 30% discount should apply automatically but if it doesn't, input FATSTACKS in the Promotional code field. -End of Promotion- --------------------------------------------------------------- If you've been a long time reader, you may recall me regaling you about this years ago. I'll retell it for the sake of new readers. Plus, it's yet another case of truth being stranger than fiction. I laughed when I received his letter because I knew I could have some fun with it. I quickly realized that the client probably had no idea what their lawyer was doing. The client was pretty savvy online with a big YouTube channel and a solid ecommerce store. I strung over-zealous lawyer along asking questions forcing him to write me letters in return. I used to practice law so I know the drill. Lawyers typically invoice clients in ten minute increments. If the letter takes 3 minutes, it's 10 minutes billed to the client. Therefore, the more three minute letters I force a lawyer write... well you get the point. I didn't ask all my questions at once. I asked them one at a time after each letter. 10 minutes, 10 minutes, 10 minutes and so on. I was doing the lawyer a solid but that couldn't be avoided in this situation. This guy actually printed the letters on printed letterhead, scanned them and attached them to emails. Old school in the modern world. Maybe he thought he was cutting edge attaching them to an email. When the smoke cleared, I'm sure my jacking him around cost his client several thousand in fees with all the correspondence he sent me. Every response was a scanned letter attached to an email. Eventually I ran out of nonsense to jack him and around and sent an email with a link to YouTube's terms of service. Checkmate. He agreed at that point that I had done nothing wrong. No apology for the $150k punitive damages threat of course. Lawyers don't apologize. It gets worse... for his client. I actually liked his client's e-commerce store. I embedded their useful videos and promoted products. Made some sales too. At some point in the myriad of correspondence, the lawyer also demanded I remove all links to his client. I complied. At the end I confirmed all affiliate links were replaced with links to XYZ merchant; a direct competitor. I told lawyer that and told the lawyer he needs to confirm to his client that I was now promoting the competitor. I would have told the client directly but one shouldn't contact an adverse party when represented by a lawyer, no matter how incompetent the lawyer. It's a great example of "be careful what you ask for." Looking back, had I more guts, I could have let the matter go well into the late litigation stage racking up tens or hundreds of thousands in fees. Then I could drop the YouTube terms of service clause to them on the courthouse steps. In reality, I'm sure it would have been figured out long before that stage, but anything is possible. In Canada, the loser often has to pay the legal fees of the victor. In some situations, it can be double costs. It's a fun aspect that's built into litigation strategy. Fun only if you get the double costs. For nostalgia sake, I'll fill you in about double costs in Canada because it's an interesting legal mechanism (at least I thought so when I learned of it) If I make a formal offer to the other party, and they don't get that amount in trial, I would get double costs. It's a mechanism to encourage parties to settle. For example, let's say I make a $1,000 offer to settle the case before trial. They decline. We go to trial and the court awards $10 to the other side. While I still have to pay $10 to the other party and seem to have lost, I'm financially the victor because I was willing to settle for more. The formal offer, which is sealed before judgement, is then given to the judge. The judge could then, and likely would, award me double costs less the $10 I owe. Fun stuff. Double legal fees for a trial adds up to tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars. It can be crippling. I've seen it (received it). So, even if the party wins a modest award, if they failed to accept a better offer, they could actually end up losing a lot of money. This is why parties on sound footing with a nonsense lawsuit filed against them make lowball offers, sometimes as low as $1. If they win the case, they get double costs. So, should you embed other people's videos on your site? Ignore that some idiot lawyer might send you an infringement letter. That was pure lunacy. It's unlikely to happen again and if it does happen to you, then you have the good fortune to have as much fun as I did. Yes, I do embed other people's videos in content if it's helpful for visitors. I don't add them to every article; just where it makes sense to do so. I'm not into making videos so I'm grateful there are folks who are and that I can use them. I don't do it for some wishful thinking that Google will bestow higher rankings for the article because I'm using YouTube. I don't believe it works for ranking. I do it because it's good for readers. If it's good for readers, they stick around. If they stick around, they might return. These are great site metrics. Will some folks click into YouTube? Sure. It's the same with outbound links to sources and other resources. Visitors will click out but that's okay. Who doesn't appreciate an article that helps out with a link to another good article? Let this be your publishing guiding light: If it serves search intent, do it. It's a simple test. Lastly, don't forget [the Koala AI Writer lifetime deal]() ends in a few days. Jon Fatstacksblog.com Disclaimer: I'm an affiliate for the [Koala AI software]() that I mention and link to in this email. I'm also a lifetime package purchaser (the Elite package). ​ [Unsubscribe]( | [Update your profile]( | 2016 Hill Drive, North Vancouver, British Columbia V7H 2N5