YouTube's fate rests on decade-old copyright law

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It's all short-sighted...

YouTube was (presumably) created for two purposes:

1) To share home-produced, independent videos - it's really the new public access TV, but on the Internet.
2) To share videos in a sort of "hey, you gotta see this" mode.

Purpose #1 is not at issue and shouldn't even be a concern. Even if Viacom prevails, YouTube should absolutely permit independent video producers to place their own works on the site.

But Purpose #2 is where there seem to be major disagreements. Major media powerhouses like Viacom are looking for money - period. It's not about morality. It's not about satisfying present or future customers. It's about money - greed, if you like.

When something hits the airwaves, while the work itself may be owned by whoever produced it, in a sense, it's public. Who, after all, creates a video production and then locks it in a safe? The only way enterprises like Viacom could ever protect their content would be to never release it at all. But that, of course, would be ridiculous.

I agree with another post - this whole thing is basically a high-stakes chess game. I remember the prediction months ago when Google bought YouTube - since Google has deep pockets, they would become the target of a lawsuit. It's a big game - a big, stupid, selfish game in which millions of end users could be cheated out of the right to share.

Are we going to get to the point that if a TV is showing a CBS program in a bar and someone walks by and stops to watch a few moments of it through the front window, that bouncers are gonna run outside, knock the viewer to the ground and demand payment for a casual view? Laugh or roll your eyes if you want, but with court cases like this, a message is being sent. The concept of copyright protection in the digital age is getting out of control - and for the wrong reasons.

It's immoral to charge for absolutely everything. I think it's pure, unadulterated greed if you charge for everything without some common sense.

And yes, I am a content creator myself.

Posted by: chas_2   Posted on: 03/14/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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