I’ve been watching with great interest how YouTube handles accusations that it knowingly hosts and broadcasts copyrighted material. It now seems that Google, which acquired YouTube in November of 2006, is close to releasing technology that will help eliminate video uploads which violate intellectual property laws. Claim Your Content is Google’s name for filtering technology that will give content providers and publishers an easy way to alert YouTube that copyrighted material has been uploaded to its site.
But is a major showdown brewing? This March, Viacom sued Google and YouTube for $1 billion citing massive and intentional copyright infringement. Will this case ever go to court? Google has begun making revenue sharing deals with its major content contributors. If Google and Viacom can agree on revenue sharing terms then Viacom’s copyright infringment suit probably never goes to trial.
I don’t think there’s any question that YouTube built its vast community, and its brand, while knowingly broadcasting copyrighted material. Now, under Google’s dominion, the site is rapidly making attempts to satisfy copyright regulations.
Going forward with revenue sharing seems like the smartest way out of the copyright problem. However, will major media companies like Viacom seek compensation for past broadcasting of their content - broadcasting which made YouTube one of the top destinations on the Internet and that led Google to purchase the company for 1 billion dollars?
By October of 2006, before Google acquired it, an estimated 90 percent of the more than 100 million videos watched daily on YouTube violated copyright laws, according to Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research.
I’m sure Google/YouTube will work out revenue sharing with its major content providers going forward. The questions to me are:
- Will they compensate (or be forced, through the courts, to compensate) for that initial decision to broadcast copyrighted material in the first place?
- How will they compensate for that initial decision to broadcast copyrighted material?
- Can you create a business that essentially gives everyone else’s products away, and then sell it to a megacorp for $1 billion, and not pay some legal penalty?
Follow Up: This article from the Washington Post, published on March 24, 2007 Our Case Against YouTube outlines Viacom’s case against YouTube. It was written by Michael Fricklas, general council for Viacom.
Studentfilms.com is an online filmmaking resource for film students and aspiring filmmakers from around the world.
The site features:
- internet broadcasting of your film (upload it to their site) - viewers of your film can write a review, you can post contact information for those interested in your work.
- forum discussions - discuss films on the site, introduce yourself to the studentfilm.com community, discuss filmmaking tips and techniques, ask questions about screenwriting, pre-production and post-production, ask questions about which film school to attend at the unversity level
- Filmmaking Articles - Online Avid Tutorials, Tools for writers, HD product reviews
Active topics on the forum right now include, requests for iMovie help, Making a movie from a book and a vigorous discussion of NY vs LA, which discusses which media center is best for a young filmmaker to begin their career in. There is also a discussion of universities which have exemplary film schools, like New York University’s Tisch School for the Arts.
The main element and greatest strength of the site is its abiltiy to broadcast films over the internet and enable peer discussion of each film. Studentfilms.com now has a database of over 800 films which is searchable by genre, popularity on the site, film title, and by film school. There is also this cool randomizer feature which will bring you to any film in the database. All the reviews and comments I saw where mature and honest attempts to be helpful. Everyone is in the same boat and the community really does try to share knowledge and creative ideas. The forum section is also very strong. There is a good deal of filmmaking information shared in the forum questions.
If you are considering a career as a filmmaker or are an educator with a media-production curriculum, I think that studentfilms.com will become an excellent resource for you.
George Lucas is best known as a filmmaker and as the creator of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones blockbuster movie franchises. You may not know that his George Lucas Educational Foundation actively promotes innovative educational programs throughout the United States.
Edutopia - Information and Inspiration for Innovative Teaching in K-12 Schools
The foundation’s website - Edutopia - publishes stories of innovative teaching and learning through a variety of media — a magazine, an e-newsletter, CD-ROMs, DVDs, books, and the Edutopia Web site. Here, you’ll find detailed articles, in-depth case studies, research summaries, instructional modules, short documentary segments, expert interviews, and links to hundreds of relevant resources. You’ll also be able to participate as a member of an online community of people actively working to reinvent schools for the twenty-first century.
Besides the website, Edutopia is also a magazine which educators can subscribe to for free. The magazine can be read online or it can be delivered to your address. Edutopia supports the free circulation of its content, all articles on the site can be easily downloaded as pdf files
Subscribe to Edutopia magazine
There’s a great amount of information on the site but I was most impressed with the packaged and downloadable course materials offered….
Free Instructional Modules created by professors of education and professional-development specialists may be used as extension units in existing courses, or can be used independently in workshops and meetings. All modules include articles, video footage, PowerPoint® presentations, discussion questions, and class activities.
some sample articles from the site…
Big Ideas for Better Schools
Students Find Their Voices through Multimedia
Martin Scorsese: Teaching Visual Literacy
Film School - The silver screen inspires young minds to think big.
Edutopia is a forward looking educational website that embraces film, video and multimedia production as important elements in the learning process.
Don’t be fooled by the out-of-date graphic design on Stephanie Drotos’ Teaching Media Production website. This site lays out in very clear detail, everything you need to teach a nine week middle school media production course. The site was created by a middle teacher for other middle school teachers interested in creating (or expanding) media production courses concentrating on teaching stop-motion animation, desktop publishing, video production.
The site includes course outlines, day-to-day lesson plans, sample class handouts and teacher resources.
Stephanie explains, “For two years, I taught a middle school class called Media Production. This course lasted for nine weeks and was taught four times a year to both 8th graders and 6th graders. I designed the course and included topics in which I was personally interested. I’ve had lots of requests for information about teaching Media Production and wanted to make the information available to help other teachers.”
If you are an educator teaching media production, I think you’ll be well rewarded looking at Stehpanie’s course ideas.
