A Simple Solution to the Viacom vs. Google Lawsuit

Thursday, March 15th, 2007

YouTube is the site for video on the web today, and it seems that its recent acquisition by the deep pocketed Google has put it on some copyright holders’ hit list. Namely Viacom, who just two days ago launched a billion dollar lawsuit against Google for unauthorized use of its copyrighted entertainment.

Viacom’s move seems to me to be a fear-based, knee-jerk reaction. It’s indicative of a very backward and arcane way of thinking, à-la RIAA. What part of prosecuting your enthusiastic fan base makes any sort of marketing sense? Their copyrighted material appearing on a service like YouTube isn’t a nefarious plot by unsavory people to steal their money. It’s the result of fans seeking more access to Viacom products, and sharing it with friends–and strangers–who may never have otherwise been exposed to that content. It’s free, viral publicity! Other companies pay stupid amounts of money for that kind of exposure, Viacom wants to shut it down.

I think there’s a much better way of dealing with the YouTube phenomenon. Rather than try to remove them, Viacom should post the clips themselves–ensuring the quality of the content–while Google arranges to place preferentially positioned, context sensitive Viacom advertising, free of charge, in exchange for the right to display the clips. In fact, rather than even try to host their own videos on their own disparate set of sites, which nowhere near as many people visit anyway, they should just strike a deal to host all of their video on branded YouTube pages. After all, that’s where everyone is, and that’s where they’re all checking out the latest Daily Show clip–not on the Daily Show website.

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Official Class Action Lawsuit Site » Blog Archive » Action Class Project - NJ Transit settles lawsuit for $38.9M (The Record) says:
March 16th, 2007 at 8:11 am
[...] A Simple Solution to the Viacom vs. Google LawsuitNamely Viacom, who just two days ago launched a billion dollar lawsuit against Google for unauthorized use of its copyrighted entertainment. Viacom s move seems to me to be a fear-based, knee-jerk reaction. It s indicative of a very … [...]
Luke says:
March 16th, 2007 at 9:45 am
You are right - there are many companies out there that actually spend money on various guerrilla campaigns, viral advertising and etc… Youtube provides them exposure to potential millions of viewers and they get upset…

Now I understand that people posting full TV episodes on YouTube, or uploading whole movies in multiple parts may be problematic here. But how many people do upload full movies and episodes?

I think that bulk of the “infringing” material on youytube are short clips - usually no longer than what you get as part of promotional “teasers” and previews. How many “full” content samples are there?

I never actually “found” a full episode of a given show by just using the YouTube search. If they are there, they get drowned in the sea of short clips, parodies, music videos and fan homages. The only way I was able to locate these is via link sites such as tvlinks and etc..

So I think that the current DMCA system is fully capable of dealing with the real infringing material out there - the few full episodes and movies available. However trying to prevent people from uploading low quality 30 second clips is like tilting at windmills.
Ara Pehlivanian says:
March 16th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Luke: I agree, and believe me, I’m the first to defend copyrighted material but in this case it’s just silly. The “loss” that they claim is far less than the gain they’re getting in exposure and catering to an eager fan base. The trouble is, lawyers and bean counters run these companies, not creatives. It’s too bad really.