Then I found that creating subtitles for any video that a person does not have permission to is copyright infringement. Which is illegal (at least in the US.)
So therefore, isn’t using a program that automatically creates subtitles for a video which we don’t illegal? And I believe this is a premium feature.
I guess from Language Reactor’s point of view, they could say they are supplying the tools only and that the users are the only ones breaking the law.
Since LR isn’t directly creating the translation, they probably aren’t liable.
I think fan subs specifically refers to the illegal distribution of the actual video content usually with the subtitles hardcoded into the video file, and possibly may include the distribution of soft subtitles, which is usually just a text file (.srt, .ass, etc…)
I think the legality will be the responsibility of the users of LR. From what I read in the article, the main issue is the illegal acquisition and distribution of copyrighted material.
My advice is to only access legal content. Any subtitles generated with the tool should be used with no intention of redistribution and used only for the sole purpose of education and personal use. It may be possible this specific use may fall under Fair Use, since no content is being distributed illegally.
I’m no expert though and this would be a good question for a lawyer that specializes in copyrights and IP.
***Edit
I’m in the US, but I did find this interesting as far as our Fair Use laws go
Basically it asks a few questions:
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
this is correct for most situations, but as I understood it, they offer a premium feature where they can create subtitles for videos that have no subtitles.
Like, by using a computer algorithm they figure out what is being said and turn it into text. So with this live speech recognition, in a way, they are generating subtitles (and distributing them to the user, for profit, of shows they don’t own or probably don’t have permission to do so.)