According to the Wall Street Journal , when searching for a movie on TikTok, users initially only see fan-edited videos and no clips of the film itself. TikTok's algorithm then suggests 90-second clips in the "For you" tab. The more you watch, the more suggestions the platform provides.
Lawyers and legal scholars alike argue that these accounts violate the copyright and intellectual property rights of film studios and television stations. That's why film titles often don't appear in the posts.
These accounts attract hundreds of thousands of followers, comments, likes, and views, but they don't seem to earn money from the videos because there are no sponsored posts or paid advertisements. The videos can be up to 10 minutes long, but most are between 2 and 3 minutes.
More and more American adults are turning to TikTok for entertainment. According to research firm Insider Intelligence, TikTok's total daily usage minutes have surpassed Instagram. TikTok's powerful algorithm suggests what users should eat, drink, buy, and watch. With its wide content distribution capabilities, TikTok is hard to ignore. However, film studios often don't share their entire films or shows on the platform.
By filling that gap, anonymous accounts have found themselves a large audience. Jaycee Hughes, a 30-year-old sound engineer in Chicago, is one of them. He subscribes to several streaming services, including Netflix and Hulu, but prefers watching on TikTok because its algorithm displays a wider variety of entertainment, saving him the trouble of searching for it on other apps.
"I don't turn on the TV as often as I used to because everything is at my fingertips," he added.
According to lawyers, controlling copyrighted content on social media is not easy. These posts also benefit studios because they bring new audiences to their content. Peacock is among the streaming service providers experimenting with building channels on TikTok by uploading entire episodes of “Killing It” and “Love Island USA”.
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) and the Creative & Entertainment Alliance (ACE) address copyright infringement on a commercial, global scale, but not on a film-by-film basis, according to Jan van Voorn, global content protection director at the MPA. “I’m certain copyright infringement will never disappear,” van Voorn, who is also the director of ACE, commented. “Action is always needed to keep it manageable.”
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, passed in 1998, protects internet companies from penalties if their users post copyrighted content on the platform. Therefore, filmmakers, program producers, and individual authors must monitor the platform themselves and file complaints if they discover their work being used there.
"As long as the platform acts quickly to remove infringing content as soon as it is reported, the platform will be protected," said Aaron Moss, a copyright lawyer in Los Angeles.
TikTok asserts that it bans content that infringes on intellectual property rights and provides a way for copyright holders to report violations.
According to Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University Law School, some entertainment companies may not complain about online clips because TikTok helps increase the popularity of content and attract attention.
However, the uploaders themselves use the tactic of splitting the clips into smaller parts and mixing them with other content to avoid detection. They also don't usually upload the entire video, leaving viewers only able to watch about half of it. Furthermore, they "buy" followers to make their accounts appear popular, manipulating TikTok's recommendation algorithm.
Michaela Bennett, a 26-year-old court clerk in London, England, shared that she sees everything that pops up on TikTok, including American TV shows and movies that are hard to find in the UK. She also enjoys reading comments on clips, often urging the channel owner to quickly post more videos and discussing the content. "It's interesting to know that people feel the same way as you or have different opinions," she said.
Alex Friedman, a 31-year-old startup investor and advisor in Texas, is a subscriber to Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, Paramount+, Discovery+, and more. However, she still uses TikTok because it's easier to watch and doesn't require searching.
(According to WSJ)
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