@docjl74 said:

Maybe this has been suggested before, maybe not. When a movie is missing on themoviedb but is on IMDB, could it be possible to have a "quick add" feature, simply based on imdb's entry? Right now we have to copy and paste stuff from one website to another for 30 to 45 minutes. Couldn't this process be streamlined?

Case in point: "Penton: The John Penton Story (2014)"

That is copyrighted material. Note the copyright notice at the bottom of the page:

Copyright © 1990-2017 IMDb.com, Inc.

It doesn't matter whether you copy it manually or via some sort of automated process. It's still illegal to do so; and Amazon/IMDb has very deep legal pockets and no sense of humor.

Even when our members sometimes copy and paste celebrity bios or film/series descriptions straight off of IMDb or from Wikipedia, I likewise feel that's not appropriate (and may be outright copyright infringement - whether credit citation is included/noted when reposting or not). I absolutely never copy and paste anything into TMDb Overview or Biography descriptions, instead refer to multiple sources and then write my own Overview or Biography.

@genplant29 said:

I absolutely never copy and paste anything into TMDb Overview or Biography descriptions, instead refer to multiple sources and then write my own Overview or Biography.

That is the correct way to do it. A copyright covers the specific way something is written--the actual wording--not the overall idea itself. As for Wikipedia, even if the content is not copyrighted, you still need to check their creative commons license agreement that instructs you on the proper steps you need to take before using their "open source" material, including proper attribution.

What gets me is when a TMDb member has copy and pasted an Overview or Biography straight from IMDb and the text is complete with not only whatever extent of definitely erroneous description/details, but also may carry over glaringly bad grammar, odd punctuation, inaccurate spellings, etc.

@genplant29 said:

What gets me is when a TMDb member has copy and pasted an Overview or Biography straight from IMDb and the text is complete with not only whatever extent of definitely erroneous description/details, but also may carry over glaringly bad grammar, odd punctuation, inaccurate spellings, etc.

If someone is either too inept or too lazy to write their own content, then they're probably also too inept or too lazy to fix other peoples' bad content.

Note that there will be exceptions. For example, we always like official overviews (if they are available, at an official site or similar). But many times the same production company adds the official overview to IMDb as well. And in such cases it is of course not infringement to add the official overview here since the overview is available at the official site.

It's also worth mentioning that from what I've seen it the past, many complaints about copyrights on TMDb comes from German movie sites, but also some film festival websites.

Finally, I'll also add that while keeping track of IMDb IDs is how we determine duplicate entries, you always have to check TMDb before adding something. That's because a lot of duplicates on TMDb are added due to duplicate IMDb entries.

@lineker said:

. . . many times the same production company adds the official overview to IMDb as well. And in such cases it is of course not infringement to add the official overview here since the overview is available at the official site.

Are you sure of that? Maybe IMDb asked for and got permission to use some of the producer's content. Or the producer asked for it to be put there. And just because something is available at the producer's official website, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is free for the taking without getting permission or giving attribution, unless it says so at the original website.

If you are unsure about the laws where you live you should not add anything. If a production company would contact us and say that the promotional overview they have added to a press release is only allowed to be used by IMDb, that will will be a first. But maybe you are correct that IMDb owns the PDF-file shared to the press as well, but then that should be listed (and so far I have never seen any such attribution). It usually says for promotional purposes only with copyright belonging to the production company. Personally I prefer to rewrite the official stuff a bit, but it's a case by case decision.

(EDIT: Not to say that something like what I said never had happened before could happen. We have had cases where a production company asked us to remove a movie from here because they only wanted it to be on IMDb. So there are some strange companies out there and you never know!)

@lineker said:

But maybe you are correct that IMDb owns the PDF-file shared to the press as well, but then that should be listed (and so far I have never seen any such attribution).

It's important to keep attribution and permission conceptually separate. IMDb may have permission to use something from a producer at IMDb.com without requiring an attribution. IMDb may have blanket agreements that don't require it to attribute everything as long as they have permission to use it. And their permissions may also be covered by a blanket agreement, so they don't have to get permission each time for each element from the same producer.

(EDIT: Not to say that something like what I said never had happened before could happen . . . .)

I think you meant to say: Not to say that something like what I said never had happened before couldn't happen. [I.e., just because it hadn't happened in the past doesn't mean it can't happen in the future.]

We have had cases where a production company asked us to remove a movie from here because they only wanted it to be on IMDb. So there are some strange companies out there and you never know!)

And that is just one example of IMDb's market power. Also, I wouldn't necessarily call those companies strange. It may happen more often if more of them catch it, but they probably haven't been spending a lot of time looking at TMDb, because this site is probably still mostly below their radar. That may change in the future. In any case, IMDb is a 900-lb. gorilla, and they can sometimes demand more from producers (perhaps including content exclusivity?) who want their material showcased there.

Also, they may be getting some money from IMDb but not from TMDb; so that could affect their favoring of IMDb.

There's a difference worth pointing out. TMDb and the website as a consumer product, and then TMDb as a data provider. Everything you guys have said is true about the website but when it comes to our reach as a data provider, that reach is quite wide. We have ~150 million users directly using our data and/or service every month and many times that if you count our customers customers (ie. still users if our data).

I've been hearing from studios and content producers more and more directly because they want to make sure their catalogue is properly showcased here. That's an important shift for us and one that should continue as our reach continues to expand. When they come in and complete their data on their own, I know we're on the right track

@travisbell said:

I've been hearing from studios and content producers more and more directly because they want to make sure their catalogue is properly showcased here. That's an important shift for us and one that should continue as our reach continues to expand. When they come in and complete their data I know we're on the right track

Yes, I said above that things would change as TMDb gets a higher profile, and it sounds from what you've just said that it is working. As I said elsewhere, it just takes some time and patience to get there, and I'm glad that your hard work is paying off and the producers are getting interested.

@travisbell said:

There's a difference worth pointing out. TMDb and the website as a consumer product, and then TMDb as a data provider. Everything you guys have said is true about the website but when it comes to our reach as a data provider, that reach is quite wide. We have ~150 million users directly using our data and/or service every month and many times that if you count our customers customers (ie. still users if our data).

I've been hearing from studios and content producers more and more directly because they want to make sure their catalogue is properly showcased here. That's an important shift for us and one that should continue as our reach continues to expand. When they come in and complete their data on their own, I know we're on the right track

The Dutch main distributor catalogue whatever-i-should-call-it is aware of TMDb's existence too~