5 posts tagged “copyright”
No one's been ragging on Mark Cuban lately, and that's because his prophecy about GooTube being slapped with lawsuits turned out to be right. Viacom, YouTube's worst enemy, is taking the video-sharing site to court to the tune of $1 billion. That's more than half of what the company was purchased for when Google decided to take on the responsibility of the adolecent video hub.
The tension between Viacom and YouTube has become rather thick lately, escalating on a weekly basis. The promises YouTube made to the media industry have yet to pan out, and other video sharing sites are taking note, striving for extra measures to ensure that they do not fall in the same trap as YouTube. Other media companies have perked their ears as well, as the larger networks have taken a tendency to align with Viacom, noting that YouTube's copyright infringement issues have yet to be settled.
While YouTube claims that they have yet to receive the lawsuit from Viacom, the ensuing war is getting bloodier by the day. As long as YouTube remains non-compliant, they will continue to be threatened by established media. This can't be good for Google, which is trying to permeate the old media realm in what seems to be another advertising takeover. They've recently added printed and radio ads to their list of services, and are no doubt anxious to take their simplistic and self-serving model to new heights.
Though YouTube tried to avoid this very consequence by making preemptive deals with several media companies, the walls are now tumbling down around YouTube. Will this end in defeat for YouTube, placing them in the same situation as Napster? Or will this simply be enough to get YouTube's attention and compliance?
Viacom and YouTube are still battling it out, and a recent statement from Viacom has brought new light (and perspective) to the dissonance between the two companies. Viacom, which demanded that the popular video-sharing site remove over 100,000 clips that infringed on copyright agreements, states that they've seen a substantial increase in traffic to their own websites as a direct result.
Instead of waiting for the deal with YouTube to pan out, Viacom has taken a proactive measure to ensure that they're not on the losing side of an ongoing situation. They've utilized their far-reaching network, including television stations such as MTV, to drive traffic to their own websites in an effort to monetize the traffic that was previously lost to YouTube.
If Viacom's statements are true (considering YouTube says the exact opposite, citing a surge in traffic since the Viacom clips were removed), then more power to them. Networks are more emphatically seeking out ways to avoid the middleman and bring traffic directly to their own sites. Why shell out cash to YouTube for things like branded channels, and why wait for second-hand ad revenue when you can show (better quality) video clips directly from your own site? Viacom obviously considers this to be asinine , and is getting a few of the other large networks to agree.
But if YouTube continues to be the centralizing hub that it's become, it will be an unavoidable fact that advertisers will always follow the crowd. And the crowd is still on YouTube.
Microsoft has released a few words about Google, and they're not nice. Microsoft has accused Google of disregarding copyright law, saying that their biggest rival's stance on copyrighted material as "we'll take it until we're told otherwise" is unlawful. Google has heard this from many content owners since day one, and is currently facing several legal battles in Europe that pertain to this very attitude. Google's search technique is superior, and some are uncomfortable with that. Google's displaying of copyrighted content for their news page and other forms of search results is gaining a lot of flack right now.
Microsoft is especially displeased with Google's moving into new media markets, especially their purchase of YouTube, only adds fuel to the fire. The general thought towards Google is that they aren't respecting copyright laws, and are taking no measures to protect content owners.
So will a case of bad press bring harm upon Google's head? Is this, on some level, an attempt to deflect attention from the constant criticism Microsoft has received for their Vista woes?
It's almost pointless for Microsoft to spread bad press about Google, as it's nearly ineffectual. But one does wonder why they're even bothering.
The Academy has requested that YouTube remove clips from the Oscars. Ric Robertson, the executive administrator for the Academy, states that for the purpose of managing the value of their telecast and brand, YouTube has been forced to take down the clips.
Not surprisingly, some of the clips removed were among the most popular on YouTube these past few days.
Also not surprising is the attitude the Academy holds towards YouTube, and the protective manner in which they are requesting their clips be taken down. It doesn't seem to be a matter of advertising revenue, or any of the usual copyright infringement reasons we've seen from Viacom or other media companies.
This does, however, highlight the still-present dissonance between old and new media--that of the established regard and that which represents a new generation.
Though YouTube has brought about the rise of a few noteworthy actors and comedians that have been accepted by the media standard, the seriousness of the Academy is slow to accept, and probably always will be.
YouTube has made a deal with Wind-Up Records, an Indie label, for inclusion in an ad-revenue sharing model. The label holds claim to the band Evanescence, among others. Their deal with YouTube will allow the label to collect ad revenue from user content that includes their copyrighted material, including songs playing in users' videos. Wind-Up Records will also upload several of their artists' videos for inclusion on YouTube.
Seems like YouTube is taking steps to right their wrongs, though this deal is a replica of the model they've struck with the larger media companies like CBS. And that deal didn't pan out in the end. YouTube has yet to prove that their deals can hold much water when it comes to pleasing the big boys.
Will the war go on, or is this deal with Wind-Up a sign of the end? The fingerprinting technology they use to identify copyrighted material is necessary, but easily made obsolete. YouTube is caught in the middle of the larger struggle going on between consumers and suppliers. Poor Middleman.
