Concerning UK Documentary Series "Origin"

So they just take other people's content and slap their own logo on it? How is that legal?

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that most of the titles are on IMDb, though I'm sure a fair amount of them are. The first few episode I tried looking up I was unable to find.

In particular, I created this post because I was looking for one particular title; "Origin" has it listed on YouTube as "Raising A Child With Selective Mutism | MY CHILD WON'T TALK | Full Documentary | Origin". I searched for it on IMDb under both the video title and the onscreen title "my child won't talk" and found nothing. My next thought was to add it as a new title, but since "Origin" decided to upload it without any indication of its origin (ironically) and a complete lack of crew/production information, my search hit a dead end there. Do you happen to have any idea where that one came from?

@majfoalbkeopaza​ 

A bit of googling reveals that it was originally on the BBC.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qmwsh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toX0GLFbtiQ

It's not on IMDb, but could be added based on the original release, and an alternate title can be included.

@majfoalbkeopaza​ Probably not legal at all, just low key programming (some edited and directly recorded from TV) that likely goes undetected by copyright bots but it does come in handy for contribution purposes, in fact I've made a ton of contributions from sources like Dailymotion that just have things I cannot get at otherwise. They can be a good back up source as streaming services don't have or remove stuff constantly, so if you follow Peter and Michelle's directions, you might be able to track down quite a few things missing from the site and add them according to their original format.

@VonPunk​ The fact that they chop off the end credits makes it particularly scummy, in my opinion. The version @Peter_pbn found on YouTube (with the credits intact) has a whopping 19K views compared to "Origin's" 4.8M. It's not really the uploading part I take issue with, it's the misleadingly taking credit for it that bothers me. If it weren't for this "David Lunch VHS" guy uploading random stuff to YouTube, we wouldn't even have the necessary info to add it to IMDb.

@majfoalbkeopaza​ Yeah editing them and watermarking stuff to pass them off as your own is proper slimy. But it's a popular thing tho to scam loads of money with little effort by monetizing stolen & copyrighted content.

I just saw this other day, might amuse you to how cheeky the thief was and how it got him no where. Someone is Trying to Steal My Videos! - YouTube

The Origin channel says, "Featuring content produced for major TV stations in the UK and US including TLC, ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC," and the selective mutism video description says, "Content licensed from All3Media." That is not passing videos off as their own.

@Peter_pbn​ Respectfully, I must disagree. I also noticed the licensing disclaimer in the video description. But most people will not. In journalism, they call that sort of thing "burying the lede". "Origin" gets to be in big, bold letters, while the licensor gets tucked away in the description, and as for the names of the actual creators and original production company, well that gets removed entirely, for some reason. It's almost like a cartoon where a character shouts one thing at the top of their lungs and then immediately mutters something under their breath that negates the previous statement, as if that quiet little confession somehow takes away their guilt. From a legal standpoint, maybe that's all they need to do to protect themselves. But at the end of the day, it still has the effect of obscuring the original creators while keeping their brand front and center.

At the very least, I hope we can agree that they shouldn't be removing the end credits from the videos they host on their channel. What possible justification can there be for removing that information?

Let's say they are all officially licensed video's, how would it work to licence a program, that was produced for Channel 4 and is available on their streaming platform, to also be available to the world on YouTube seemingly in perpetuity. If it was so, that may seem weird from Channel 4's perspective.

Also odd that the Origin YouTube seems to have no outside website or anything to point to it being a actual business that could license stuff, could they just contact Allmedia or whomever via personal email and say, 'hey mate, can I bung you a few quid to put stuff on my YouTube slathered in my logo's and truncated how I like?' and be allowed to do it.

Stranger things have happened but this doesn't pass the smell test. Only thing it has going for it, is that the Channel is 6 years old and still going, if it's not legit, it's done a great job of sailing under radar in this day and age.

@VonPunk​ 

Origin is part of this company as mentioned in a press release:

https://www.passiondistribution.com/news/news/passion-distribution-launches-new-digital-media-content-business-upstream-media/

https://www.upstream-media.co.uk

@Peter_pbn​ I think that settles it then, legality wise. The presentation is still dodgy quality when compared to the same programs on streaming platforms.

@majfoalbkeopaza​ Hi-

I can see that your contribution has been approved and the changes are live on the site already. 

Cheers!