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Plex is a multifunctional streaming platform that allows users to watch, organize and select their favorite multimedia entertainment. Sharing Plex libraries is also an option; one that comes with piracy concerns. In an effort to "prevent the growth of piracy," Plex asked GitHub to remove a repository that allows people to share libraries that were not originally theirs.
Plex is a multifunctional multimedia software and service that allows users to easily access all their entertainment in one place.
The company was founded in 2009 and today has more than 25 million users worldwide, making plexus a serious player in the streaming market.
Plex Pirates
Most people use the service to legitimately access streaming content. However, on the margins, some users abuse the software to share pirated libraries publicly, a considerable thorn in the side of rights holders.
Plex is no stranger to the threat of 'piracy'. The company is actively working with rights holders to provide legal entertainment and abuse of its platform is only one obstacle. To address this issue, countermeasures are being taken.
Last summer, Plex surprised users by actively participating block media servers hosted by the large German company Hetzner. These were allegedly often used to share pirated material and a complete ban would put an end to this unauthorized activity.
Plex removes "Plex-reshare" repository
This week, Plex took another step to deter potential copyright infringement. The Swiss company, based in the USA, asked GitHub to remove a โShare Plexโ, claiming that it may contribute to their piracy problem.
โPlex Reshareโ does not host any copyright-infringing material and, as far as we have seen, does not reference any. Its main goal is to allow Plex users to make Plex shared directories browsable on the web, allowing people to "share" them without being the original owner.
โThe reason behind this project is to make your PLEX shares available to other friends not related to the person who owns the original library,โ explains Peter, developer of Plex Reshare.
While the repository does not host or link to copyright-infringing material, Plex maintains that it can be used to "grow" piracy.
โWe have found infringing material on your website that is in fact ANOTHER 'Plex Server'. โThe material claimed to be infringing should be removed or access disabled immediately and the growth of piracy prevented,โ the takedown notice reads.
The first part of the sentence is somewhat confusing. Plex-reshare is not a Plex server, but the company may use "OTHER Plex server" as an internal classification category. In any case, Plex alleges that the repository may contribute to the growth of piracy on its platform.
Responsibility for?
Citing the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act, Plex urges GitHub to take immediate action, or else it may be held liable. It is unclear what this liability claim is based on, as no actual copyright infringements are mentioned in the takedown notice.
Despite the broad nature of this claim, GitHub has in fact taken the repository offline and replaced it with a DMCA Takedown Reference. This probably wasn't an easy decision, as GitHub is known to put developers first with these types of issues.
In this case, it took more than three weeks before GitHub took action, much longer than usual. This suggests that GitHub allowed the developer to respond and may have sought legal advice from in-house lawyers to ensure that the rights of all parties were properly considered.
GitHub doesn't provide any context about its deletion decision, so it remains a guess as to why GitHub complied. However, the end result is the deletion of the GitHub repository.
However, Plex may not be finished yet. Plex-reshare code is not only available on GitHub, the project itself is listed in DockerHub also, where it is still available at the time of writing this article.
