Again with the copyright infringement thing…

As a girl who has had her fair share of drunkenness at the Merritt Mountain Country Music Festival, I am suddenly caught between a rock and a hard place as Cal IV Entertainment, producers of country music darlings Faith Hill and Tim McGraw are suing YouTube/Google for contributory copyright infringement.

But Tim, don’t be angry with your fans for sharing your profound wisdom such as, “I had a BBQ stain on my white T-shirt, she was killing me in that mini skirt… I worked so hard for that first kiss and a heart don’t forget something like that.”

Ain’t that the truth? I mean, I bet you’d have to do some pretty fast talking to get a hot mama like Faith Hill to make-out with you when you’ve got rib sauce all over your best No Fear shirt.

My point is that even though YouTube is complying with DMCA notices for content removal, Cal IV Entertainment may have found a way to monetize online file hosting. Rather than making PR b-reel materials available for fans, Cal IV is punishing the folks hosting fan-posted materials.

Umm, I got a story in the New York Times once that I didn’t pitch, but I decided not to sue them because I’m compassionate like that.

Let’s take a step back and consider the fact that the music and film industry just need to figure out a new revenue model. This tactic of squelching fan enthusiasm is idiotic and will actually prove to be detrimental in the long run.

If you actually provide high-quality DVD or DivX quality materials, then why would anyone go anywhere else to see it?

NBC & HEROES
I only have 3 television channels and one is San Francisco’s public broadcasting station KQED. While biographies of local sugar barons are fascinating, I discovered NBC’s Heroes and have been hooked ever since. So where to go? Bit Torrent? Pirate Bay?

No. NBC actually uploads every episode of Heroes to its website after it airs on Monday nights. By Tuesday you have a high-quality file with fewer commercials than the television broadcast. NBC wins because people are actually going to the site and viewer eyeballs can still be sold for ad revenue. Everyone wins – the consumer gets a free product, the station gets money and the advertisers get a viewer that fits the tech-savvy and possibly higher-income demographic.

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[ READER COMMENTS ]

1

Caunkistan said:

Sadly, much like getting kicked off Pandora.com, Canadians can't view any of the shows on the big network websites.

However, CTV has "fresh" (i think they're a season behind) episodes of Nip/Tuck available on their website every Monday, alongside a lot of other made-in-Canada drama/comedies. Note: must use IE to view, Firefox won't work.

Posted at 08:52 AM, on June 11 2007

(Note: separate multiple email addresses with commas)

Again with the copyright infringement thing…

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