ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

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#277

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

[QUOTE=dannyz;133022]I can totally understand why Bjorn and others have a bad taste in their mouth over this turn of events, but at the same time I’ll be interested to see if PG can actually succeed in bringing about what could be a massive change to Manhub, which like it or not would benefit the community. Manhub would have to do more for our network of Producers we work with whose content they have pilfered and profited off of then just lip service for us to consider working with them. I can see that the work Dominic and Peter are doing could be beneficial if Manhub are truly committed to ‘changing their ways.’ They would owe it to the producers to give them compensation for the illegal content posted and damages for infringements (this could be resolved privately between the sponsors/producers whose work has been infringed on). They owe it to the community to post and communicate with us (silence has been speaking volumes here) and lay out their exact plans for change in a transparent way (note: action, not only words). They would also need a full time person inspecting every video before it goes live to ensure there is absolutely ZERO tolerance for copyright violations. It’s not that hard to do … GayTube and Rockettube seem to do a pretty good job of it, and they certainly aren’t lacking for traffic.

“We do not merely destroy our enemies; we change them.”

  • George Orwell[/QUOTE]

Orwell wrote in The Road to Wigan Pier: “I worked out an anarchistic theory that all government is evil, that the punishment always does more harm than the crime and the people can be trusted to behave decently if you will only let them alone.” He continued however and argued that "it is always necessary to protect peaceful people from violence. In any state of society where crime can be profitable you have got to have a harsh criminal law and administer it ruthlessly."

#278

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

Hi guys,

I’ve been on & off for the past few days so just gave the latest posts in this thread a good read.

I also don’t like the whole BangBros - PG link, however Dominic explained it in an email he sent us.

Unfortunately there is one thing I find fishy here. Dominic is saying producers are licensing content to Manhub. That is true and we all knew that. However that is Manhub Premium.

There the content is shown as DVDs, all producers have their labels, they are clearly labeled as studios production.

But our problem is with Manhub.com - the free area. I doubt anyone is licensing content to their free area. I see LOADS of full length scenes on Manhub.com. We have a full length scene there since February 1, 2012. I have personally reported it 3 times, Steve reported it too, it was never taken down.

There are thousands of full length scenes and even full length DVDs on Manhub.com from various studios and I really really doubt anyone licenses that content for the FREE AREA of Manhub.

I know what Dominic is saying about Manhub Premium, I don’t even care about that. Manhub Premium is their “legit” small portion of Manhub. My and others problem is with Manhub.com directly. There is absolutely no way studios would license their content on the free area. What would they gain out of that?

#279

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

[QUOTE=andreiDL;133086]
Unfortunately there is one thing I find fishy here. Dominic is saying producers are licensing content to Manhub. That is true and we all knew that. However that is Manhub Premium.

There the content is shown as DVDs, all producers have their labels, they are clearly labeled as studios production.

But our problem is with Manhub.com - the free area. I doubt anyone is licensing content to their free area. I see LOADS of full length scenes on Manhub.com. We have a full length scene there since February 1, 2012. I have personally reported it 3 times, Steve reported it too, it was never taken down.

There are thousands of full length scenes and even full length DVDs on Manhub.com from various studios and I really really doubt anyone licenses that content for the FREE AREA of Manhub.

I know what Dominic is saying about Manhub Premium, I don’t even care about that. Manhub Premium is their “legit” small portion of Manhub. My and others problem is with Manhub.com directly. There is absolutely no way studios would license their content on the free area. What would they gain out of that?[/QUOTE]

I was told by a producer that has licensed content to Manhub in the past that their agreement included content on the free area for promotional reasons.

Don’t shoot the messenger.

#280

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

In the world of Finance and business this would be called TOO BIG TO FAIL…

Manhub is just so big and they have so much traffic that they are too big to fail… that’s why everyone is letting them slip by and that’s why they are taking this easy way out… as Michael pointed out, If I put a full length video on my Pornosleuth I would get lawyer threats within a day, and probably I could get away with that 2-3 times, then I would be excommunicated and sued my ass off…

Porn Guardian is an LLC it is not an organization and that is why they are ALWAYS in the conflict of interest… we all know that. Sure, If you ask me the so called illegal porn hunter can only be an organization of gay adult sites as wide as possible. Only this way the porn guardian would fight illegal sites regardless if the uploaded video is on their payroll or not… and that is the main goal. To fight piracy and punish those who are not abiding the rules, if you don’t punish them then what we can learn from it is that it’s ok to go illegal as there are NO consequences besides some threats and pulling down the videos part… so you can’t really blame Porn Guardian, they are a company trying to make cash and they will do what cash asks them. They are not non-profit organization and they are not here to punish illegal sites. Basically they are just defending their business model which is to get as much paysites on a payroll and removing the illegal links from certain sites.

Face it, without illegal upload sites and illegal tubes Porn Guardian would not be making money. So the question is, what would Porn Guardian gain if piracy was non existent tomorrow ?

This industry is all about cash, affiliates, site owners, tube hunters… ethics have been questions many times, on all of us. So here’s to CA$$$$$H

#281

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

[QUOTE=rob;133087]I was told by a producer that has licensed content to Manhub in the past that their agreement included content on the free area for promotional reasons.

Don’t shoot the messenger.[/QUOTE]

I just can’t see the benefit for that. On Manhub Premium, if you license your content (as you would do with AEBN, Naked Sword and so on) at least you get some brand exposure, your logo is out there, everything is branded.

On Manhub.com, your scenes don’t have any branding, not even the original name. It’s more something like “Horny bareback fucking - X takes a huge load from Y” with no reference to the original producer (even the watermarks are cropped out).

So I doubt that content is legally licensed.

I don’t doubt Dominic’s ethics, I just wonder if by licensed content he meant Manhub Premium only or also Manhub.com.

#282

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

Andrei, thanks for clarifying the Manhub Premium versus Manhub situation, that makes total sense now in terms of licensed content.

As far as not seeing the benefit of it, I think one of two things is happening here, maybe more, but I’ll keep it simple.

Sponsors licenced their content to Manhub Premium and either didn’t know that it could be used on Manhub or didn’t read the fine print.

Manhub has so much traffic and sites are so desperate for sales and traffic that they’ll pretty much agree to anything.

New paysites back in the late 90s and early 00s didn’t really like that webmasters were using their free affiliate content to build AVS galleries and sell AVS memberships, but the sponsor banners inside the member’s area did give them exposure and sell memberships, so most went along with it. The AVS sites wouldn’t allow sponsor banners on the tour because they wanted to sell an AVS membership. Seems to be the same situation here.

#283

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

Just something i think worth mentioning. I uploaded some clips to ManHub a while back, and i got so little traffic it really wasn’t worth my time…
I also truly believe their ‘video views’ are faked.One of my clips had about 3M views, but i got about 13 clicks and no residual increase in direct traffic…

#284

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

I agree, almost all tubes present fake numbers. Once saw a scene of ours uploaded 24 hours before I saw it and it had 1.4M views. That sounds a bit fake to me :slight_smile:

#285

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

As Dominic mentioned we are one of the studios that has an agreement with Manhub to show some of our DVD titles in their membership area with conditions that there is no promotion off site, or in their free area using our content. (I know of only one studio that has licensed all of their content to just about every file locker and tube site out there without restriction). It is not content that we have on our membership site, and is the same content that is available in the paid areas of less controversial sites like NakedSword and on various other VOD platforms as well.

I understand the frustrations of you guys trying to promote sites and facing a slew of free versions of the same material out there. We feel the same frustration, and as it is product that many of us put heart and soul into, our level of attachment and protectiveness is magnified many times over.

As someone who has been very actively involved in fighting online piracy now for many years, I see our biggest enemy as the (US and by default, world) legislation that provides a ‘get out of jail free’ card for these companies who build sites based on stolen content. As long as they (I include google as the main facilitator here) maintain responses that conform with DMCA safe harbor provisions, there is little substantive action that we can take to change the current situation. It is because of this that we make deals with tube sites, file lockers etc

I want to add though that in the case of most of the tube/ file locker players mentioned here by Dominic or others who have made some deals, or efforts to ‘go clean’, that those decisions have only come about after substantial legal pressure and expense by the adult industry including Titan, ourselves, Corbin Fisher, Pink Visual, FSC, Porn Guardian, Flava Works et al (sorry for those of you I have not mentioned). None of these sites had a change of heart due to conscience.

This is not a fight that we are waging here, it is war for the survival of commercial adult production (sorry for the melodramatic metaphor), and if we need to make a few peace treaties along the way instead of trying to shed blood every time, so be it. Is it the optimal solution? No, but I think it is better for all of us here, producers, program owners and affiliates than the alternative.

#286

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

I agree 100%, this is probably the best phrase in this whole thread. The main issue is the law that basically forces everyone to watch their content getting ripped, stolen and shared without any fear of being prosecuted what-so-ever.

Until the world has a solid anti-piracy legislation in place, there isn’t much PG or any individual studio can do. It’s like fighting the windmills.

#287

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

[QUOTE=pornosleuth;133088]In the world of Finance and business this would be called TOO BIG TO FAIL…

Porn Guardian is an LLC it is not an organization and that is why they are ALWAYS in the conflict of interest… we all know that. Sure, If you ask me the so called illegal porn hunter can only be an organization of gay adult sites as wide as possible. Only this way the porn guardian would fight illegal sites regardless if the uploaded video is on their payroll or not… and that is the main goal. To fight piracy and punish those who are not abiding the rules, if you don’t punish them then what we can learn from it is that it’s ok to go illegal as there are NO consequences besides some threats and pulling down the videos part… so you can’t really blame Porn Guardian, they are a company trying to make cash and they will do what cash asks them. They are not non-profit organization and they are not here to punish illegal sites. Basically they are just defending their business model which is to get as much paysites on a payroll and removing the illegal links from certain sites.

Face it, without illegal upload sites and illegal tubes Porn Guardian would not be making money. So the question is, what would Porn Guardian gain if piracy was non existent tomorrow ?

This industry is all about cash, affiliates, site owners, tube hunters… ethics have been questions many times, on all of us. So here’s to CA$$$$$H[/QUOTE]

I believe Peter is going to be replying later today with more specifics, but I wanted to address this. Every day we dismantle websites, get payment processors to stop working with the bad fileshosts/tubes, fly around the world to forge relationships with ISPs so they will be more sympathetic to our cause. Doing this helps the ENTIRE industry, not just our clients, as all of these sites contain much more content than simply our clients.

So while we certainly need to not lose our shirts to stay in business and do the work we do, know that the work we do goes WELL above and beyond our client list and helps everyone in the industry in concrete, palpable ways that helps everyone. There has never been a site we took down that only featured our clients’ material. Removing sites like oron.com helps everyone, not just our clients.

#288

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

Well, you know it all boils down to “…it’s their content (site/content owners) and you can cry if you (affiliates) want too…cry if you want too…”

#289

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

I wasn’t going to make a post on this subject, as like others I find the environment here very hostile lately.

Piracy is a huge issue facing this industry and if anyone had a solution to it, then piracy would not exist. Take 10 affiliates and 10 sponsors and put them in a room together for a day to discuss it and you will leave with 20 views on how to fight piracy. No one has a magic bullet solution.

I don’t understand one bit the outrage against Porn Guardian. I have known Dominic for three years. He is a straight shooter. Peter I met at the show and had a chance to spend a great deal of time talking about this issue with him. He is a straight shooter as well. Dominic and Peter are really doing stuff in the fight against piracy that are helping the whole industry. It goes way beyond just sending DMCA’s on behalf of clients.

At the show they had a big banner that said something like “Taking down files and calling out names.” At the top of the list was leaseweb as the biggest offender. That is the same company that someone here hosts with and said was a great host. Leaseweb had like 5 reps there trying to get business. It really must have sucked for those reps that were flown in to get more clients. Where do we take the witch hunt? Anyone that hosts with lease web is technically putting money into the pockets of a company that is extremely friendly to pirate sites. Would calling out all the clients of leaseweb be a solution to the piracy problem. No.

In this thread there is so much misinformation and what I believe to be lack of knowledge about US law. The fact of the matter is based on two lawsuits that set precedent, the porn industry as it relates to user uploaded content was dealt a very bad poker hand. When you are dealt a bad poker hand no two people play it the same, unless they all fold. Folding is admitting defeat.

What Porn Guardian is doing by trying to make tube sites better citizens is not new. The only difference is unlike others that have tried they may actually do something that helps the industry. Does anyone here not even know what the FSC tried to do and imho failed miserably? Three years ago they launched an anti-piracy program. I was at the seminar when it was launched. The first 30 minutes dealt with explaining how Monty Python became a top selling dvd on Amazon by giving away free episodes on Youtube. The next 30 minutes explained the technology. Then the next 30 minutes explained how they wanted to make tube sites better citizens and give them a cut of revenue.

Here -

Through the Anti-Piracy Action Program (APAP), FSC is offering a standard means for content owners to detect infringement, and seamlessly replace the infringing content with acceptable promotional and advertising materials. APAP takes into consideration the risk that user-generated content (‘UGC’) sites face in accepting uploads of content, and the need to monetize the traffic to their sites while staying in compliance with the law. As some mainstream UGC sites have done, adult tube sites can receive a revenue share on the promotional materials that are swapped into place once infringement has been detected by the software used in the APAP monitoring effort.

^That is from a group that has the industry’s back. Source - http://fscapap.com/tube.html

Link to revenue model - http://fscapap.com/info-graphics.html

At the end of the day, how is program owners giving a tube site a cut of the revenue any different than buying ads on the site? In both cases money flows into the company. If you think about that for a minute, you will see issues that content producers face. On one hand we have the FSC with a program that helps monetize content on tube sites. We have affiliates that go ballistic when they see it. Then you have content producers that quite frankly don’t know what to do. As I said, there is no one easy answer that will please everyone.

As belami pointed out for some in this business it’s not about greed, but

This is not a fight that we are waging here, it is war for the survival of commercial adult production (sorry for the melodramatic metaphor), and if we need to make a few peace treaties along the way instead of trying to shed blood every time, so be it.

As I said, the porn industry was dealt a bad poker hand. We need to either play the hand we were dealt or just fold. Porn Guardian really does have our back and they are helping us play a really bad poker hand that was dealt to us.

#290

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

[QUOTE=BelAmiOnline;133101]As Dominic mentioned we are one of the studios that has an agreement with Manhub to show some of our DVD titles in their membership area with conditions that there is no promotion off site, or in their free area using our content. (I know of only one studio that has licensed all of their content to just about every file locker and tube site out there without restriction). It is not content that we have on our membership site, and is the same content that is available in the paid areas of less controversial sites like NakedSword and on various other VOD platforms as well.

I understand the frustrations of you guys trying to promote sites and facing a slew of free versions of the same material out there. We feel the same frustration, and as it is product that many of us put heart and soul into, our level of attachment and protectiveness is magnified many times over.

As someone who has been very actively involved in fighting online piracy now for many years, I see our biggest enemy as the (US and by default, world) legislation that provides a ‘get out of jail free’ card for these companies who build sites based on stolen content. As long as they (I include google as the main facilitator here) maintain responses that conform with DMCA safe harbor provisions, there is little substantive action that we can take to change the current situation. It is because of this that we make deals with tube sites, file lockers etc

I want to add though that in the case of most of the tube/ file locker players mentioned here by Dominic or others who have made some deals, or efforts to ‘go clean’, that those decisions have only come about after substantial legal pressure and expense by the adult industry including Titan, ourselves, Corbin Fisher, Pink Visual, FSC, Porn Guardian, Flava Works et al (sorry for those of you I have not mentioned). None of these sites had a change of heart due to conscience.

This is not a fight that we are waging here, it is war for the survival of commercial adult production (sorry for the melodramatic metaphor), and if we need to make a few peace treaties along the way instead of trying to shed blood every time, so be it. Is it the optimal solution? No, but I think it is better for all of us here, producers, program owners and affiliates than the alternative.[/QUOTE]

Have you seen their free area? Its LOADED with Bel Ami content - not just in the premium area. Im happy to hear that PG has checked with Manhub as to the licensed content behind their pay wall. What most people are concerned with is whats available and FREE on their FREE site. Why aren’t they still getting DMCA notices for that content (that question was avoided)? Those vids aren’t licensed - at least not licensed from a majority of the studios that PG represents.

As to Peter/Dominic’s response - “the lady doth protest too much methink.” Assuming your answer to our question is accurate, it makes for incredibly strange bedfellows and gives off an air of impropriety. Why not just show your loyalty to the content producers and drop them. Don’t get me wrong I am very appreciative of your work helping to shut down Oron.com, but theres little, if any, difference between Manhub and Oron (besides plausible deniability - “oh the users did it, not us”). This is the sort of business that you need to pick a side in, you can’t have your hand in both cookie jars or it pisses a lot of people off.

Seriously, its not fair to either side in this. What if Titan gets pissed and sues them? You’re now helping to build a case, providing evidence, and possibly testifying against another client? Sucks for Manhub! On the flip side of that same coin if Titan/Corbin got pissed enough to sue, their evidence would be severely diminished because you’ve apparently stopped sending take-down notices (or at least not with the same frequency you were [I]before[I] Manhub was your client), not to mention the potential argument by Manhub that much of the evidence that studio has against them came from a Manhub service provider - which could raise many issues.

#291

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

It is that serious, I agree. Yet here we are squabbling with each other. Many sponsors / content producers have backed and continue to pay PornGaurdian for their services. I don’t see many (if any?) of them rushing to beat Dominic and Peter over the head for their efforts here. That said, as a client I do think they could communicate with me better - I’ve learned more on this and other recent threads than I have from them direct!

Anyway, back to Alan’s apocalyptic thoughts. Sadly, what I also don’t see is a collaborative approach amongst sponsors / content producers on a strategy to win that war of survival. I fear it all comes down to Darwinism - survival of the fittest and let the rest perish. That’s the end game because whoever can hang on the longest wins. We may all have been dealt a shitty hand with regards to the law, but could any of the last century’s World Wars have been won by any single one nation?

Great people in those times and circumstances made bold decisions to form alliances to defeat the enemy. All many people in the adult industry seem to want to do is run for cover and wait it out. Had that happened in the second world war, chances are that Europe would be free of Jews, Gypsies and Gays now. Sobering really. You can make treaties… but when the enemy becomes powerful enough they will wipe you off the face of the Earth without a second thought.

#292

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

And why should we? Out of every company out there, they are doing the absolute best at getting content removed and sites shut down.

One thing that I feel that we as an industry have to accept is that tube sites are here to stay. Maybe a court case will hit that changes that, but at the moment that seems very unlikely. Laws favor sites with user uploaded content. The choice is pretty clear on this; they either continue their evils way or they change. But the law is on their side to continue their evil ways. If a company like Porn Guardian can get them to clean up their act that is good for the industry imho.

The Viacom lawsuit against Youtube is to the point that one could piss their pants laughing at how bad Viacom fucked that one up. Here -

Persistence is a virtue, but stubbornness is a sin. I’m pretty sure Viacom has sinned a lot in its six years of litigation against YouTube. How many things have to go wrong for Viacom before it wakes up and smells the hummus? It’s now lost twice in the district court, it’s created a bunch of precedent unfavorable to its interests, it’s proven that even it can’t figure out which clips it authorized to post on YouTube and which it didn’t, it gave up complaining about YouTube’s behavior after 2008 (making the case entirely backward-looking), it got caught repeatedly astroturfing, and in general it’s looked like a massive jackass. Perhaps its next appeal will finally kill this case as it deserves, though that will single-handedly cause a new downturn in the legal industry as hundreds of lawyers look to find new sugar daddy clients.

Source - http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2013/04/viacom_loses_ag.htm

That lawsuit is a real big win for the porn industry… Just think of all the precedents being set in that one combined with the Titan vs. Veoh lawsuit.
http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/copyright/io-group-v-veoh-networks

Sadly, what I also don’t see is a collaborative approach amongst sponsors / content producers on a strategy to win that war of survival.

Nope. You don’t. That is a huge problem.

#293

[QUOTE=“abostonboy;133108”]I wasn’t going to make a post on this subject, as like others I find the environment here very hostile lately.
…

As I said, the porn industry was dealt a bad poker hand. We need to either play the hand we were dealt or just fold. Porn Guardian really does have our back and they are helping us play a really bad poker hand that was dealt to us.[/QUOTE]

Well said… Bravo fuckin bravo.

#294

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

Thank you, Adam, for being a voice of sanity in this mess. This is exactly what is needed. And like I said in earlier posts, “being held accountable” is a hollow phrase. Porn Guardian has yet to explain what this accountability entails, so I continue to believe it really means nothing. And Bel Ami’s Alan has further demonstrated that copyright laws have removed any kind of real accountability. There is none, just say, “Sorry,” and remove the video and that’s about it.

If sponsors would truly like to affect change with Manhub, the answer is simply: gather together and organize and if 40 or 50 sponsors all contacted Manhub on the same day and requested the removal of all of their content, including 2-minute affiliate teasers, Manhub would take notice. They may simply load up their tube with their own content and DVD content that they purchase, but a lot of surfers looking for specific sponsor videos won’t find them on Manhub and that traffic might move somewhere else.

If you want to push harder, that same group of sponsor could cancel Manhub’s affiliate accounts, but again, in this economy are you going to find anyone willing to say “no” to sales.

But I don’t see that happening. No one is standing up to spearhead such a venture and I doubt that you would find 50 sponsors willing to forego the exposure and traffic, even though a few have said in this thread that they aren’t seeing any or many sales anyway.

Likewise in the affiliate community, you just won’t find a majority of affiliates willing to pull down all their Haze Cash posts, not if they’re making any money.

The only things people pay attention to in this business are money and traffic. If you affect either or both of those then you can affect some change. Maybe. But certainly nothing will be accomplished by sitting back and doing nothing except ripping each other apart in a thread that has now hit 30 pages and over 34,000 views.

So where are all these people reading this thread? When are you going to do something tangible to fight back?

#295

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

Please stick to the subject and keep it relevant.

It’s best if people avoid posting until Dominic or Peter area ready and want to answer about the problem with non licensed (stolen / illegal ) videos in the free area of Manhub. Until then don’t post unless it’s something new that contributes to the understanding of what’s going on with Manhub.

#296

Re: ManHub.com - Making money on your stolen content?

I’m dividing this up into a couple of posts because it’s lengthy. Forgive me - I tend to use more words than the Twitter Generation does.

As promised yesterday (or maybe it was Monday,) I’d like to take a moment to address the recent comments back and forth regarding Porn Guardian and its relationship with ManHub and BangBros on this thread. BangBros contacted us and asked us to represent their antipiracy interests as content producers – specifically on six brands: BaitBus, BangBros, Big Daddy, Dancing Bear, Haze Him and Out in Public. We see loads of infringements on BaitBus, Haze Him and Out in Public every day so we happily took them on. Piracy hurts everyone except pirates as you all know. For this reason, controlling the frequency of infringements for several of these popular brands was in the interest of all of our other clients in the gay adult space. We were aware that BangBros shared an ownership connection with ManHub, who we believed was an egregious offender….and we told BangBros that when we signed on with them. This is not the first client we have taken who produces copyrighted content in one division and supports piracy in some way in another – in fact, that is the general rule in the adult space these days - and not the exception as you might imagine. You can find a complete list of our clients on donotpost dot org. A few of them are small “mom & pop” shops that just do a modest business and try to eek out a living. But most of the brands you recognize are, in one way or another, involved in more than producing content. Some of them don’t even seem to know that they support piracy until we point it out to them (which we do, loudly and often.) Some change their model as a result. Some apologize. Some don’t. Business is hard right now as you all know. For some it’s a matter of survival. People’s ethics are sometimes shaped by a desire to stay alive. Porn Guardian has been extremely fortunate that our ethics have never been tested to that ultimate limit, but more on that later.

Shortly after we started with BaitBus, Haze Him, Out in Public, et al, ManHub requested that we perform an audit of their tube site to document the extent of copyright infringement that exists there. They also asked for suggestions on how they could become “better citizens” of the adult space. As I mentioned previously, this is the second time a tube site has contacted us asking pretty much the same questions. Incidentally, we performed these audits at no cost to the sites, ManHub included. That was the ONLY way we were willing to take on the assignments. To be completely transparent about this, after we finished the audits and presented our results to these tubes, they each voluntarily compensated us – In the first case we were sent a really touching note and a framed photo of a World War II pilot and plane from the British Royal Air Force (it relates to the War on Piracy, you see. That tube was located in London.) In the case of ManHub, they sent us a small check to cover our staff time.
As noted in our 2012 Piracy Report published on our website, ManHub was one of the top 15 tube sites we monitor, so going into this we thought that Manhub was an especially egregious offender. This impression was supported by our direct experience with them in February last year when several of our notices went without a response. We later learned that the problem wasn’t with Manhub’s compliance, it was the site’s registered DMCA agent’s email provider. It wasn’t until we faxed Manhub’s DMCA agent that the content was removed. Manhub subsequently requested that we copy their staff at abuse at manhub dot com, and we have done so ever since and all of our notices have been attended to since. Even with that explanation at the time, we remained skeptical because of what we saw as identifiable, watermarked studio content on the site.

Our 2012 Piracy Report doesn’t show numbers but out of the total amount of DMCAs we sent last year Manhub accounted for less than 1.5%. When we did the Manhub audit we found that the only content they have posted themselves is content that has been licensed for a fee by content owners and that the remainder of the content on the site is user uploaded. In our audit, we identified 125 links which we divided into three lists. The first was links to content belonging to PG clients. The second was links to content belonging to other producers we recognized, the third was links to content we suspected was infringing, but we weren’t certain who the owner was. It turned out that about 1/3 of those 125 links were licensed by Manhub, including many that belonged to some of our clients like BelAmi and Lucas Entertainment. Mahub immediately removed the balance of the content we identified, without the need for a DMCA notice, including the content we merely suspected was infringing but we weren’t sure of.

Here’s what we told ManHub they should do: 1. Monitor all user uploads and do not allow any to go live until you are certain they are not infringing. 2. Establish a repeat infringer policy (and publish it) that says three infringing posts and you’re out. 3. When infringements are reported, instead of removing them, immediately replace them with a pre-determined preview clip and install a link back to the content owner’s authorized distribution site. 4. Provide a back end removal tool so trusted content owners can remove infringing content themselves, by disabling it immediately, then you go look at it, confirm it’s theirs, and either remove it permanently or replace it with a link-back promo clip (see 3 above.) 5. Publish a Do Not Post List (for an example, see do not post dot org) and notify your members that they will be banned if they post content belonging to any of these producers. 6. Institute a “No Link Back” policy that disallows other sites to link back to “your” videos. This will keep leeching tubes like MyVidster from indexing your content and playing it through their player screen while monetizing it with their own ads and selling the traffic they generate as a result. 7. Publish an Acceptable Use Policy that includes all of this information immediately. 8. Join ASACP and install an age verification filter in front of your splash page making it clear that you do not allow ANY Child Porn and you do not allow surfers under 18 to access the site.