Obviously excluding videos whose authors explicitly do not want to, or copyrighted content that could create problems for individual instances.
By doing this PeerTube could become a kind of youtube database of quality content, excluding shorts and toxic/futile videos. What do you think of this approach? Could it make PT more attractive, or would it create problems for the platform?
I’m sure many creators would do it themselves but don’t have time, or many would do it but don’t even know about the existence of the Fediverse. Perhaps you could start by making “fan channels,” with all the most important and significant videos on a youtube channel (so without having to stay up-to-date on recent releases).
PeerTube can’t store all videos. Only Youtube can handle the storage cost by using ads due to the massive amount of users. But you could still have a list of links etc. for videos. Maybe stream directly the video youtube but never be on the youtube site. This might already exist in form of FreeTube. It only misses the possibility to view PeerTube vides as well.
I think every creator should be contacted before doing duch a thing and I guess a lot would not agree since most of them wouldn’t make any money on Peertube except if people support them through something like Patreon.
I partially agree but could this actually not be a problem? Users who watch them on YT will still continue to do so, and instead people who prefer to use FreeTube/NewPipe or alternatives will still continue not actively supporting creators on YT but instead spreading their videos elsewhere. Right now the prediction of PeerTube taking views away from YT is quite utopian for most people.
Generally it’s just better to ask, even if you were legally / ethically / morally in the clear.
- if someone doesn’t want it, it’s going to turn them against peertube / fediverse platforms
- they might not understand what it is, and use their platform to share those feelings
Meanwhile if someone DOES want it, letting them know will give them the option to do it themselves. It makes less work for you, and they will feel invested. If they want it and they don’t want to upload it themselves, at the very least they’ll let their viewers know that peertube is an option.
As for the legal/moral side, I still feel like there’s a reason why you shouldn’t do this but I’m not aware of what that might be.
Two things to consider:
- It’s likely illegal to take other people’s content and re-publish it on your own terms
- Peertube admins have to pay for storage. So don’t dump random noise there. It has to be useful / worth it. Especially if you make someone else pay for the server space.