Online video is changing, becoming more in tune with old media. One of the ways this change is being demonstrated is how professional video is being targeted by advertising, even if the video has been uploaded by someone other than the original owner.
Internet video took off very quickly, with everyone seeming to want to upload clips either of their own production or of something not owned by themselves.
DMCA Takedowns and Lawsuits
The ability to share video is unfortunately limited by copyright laws and the desire of owners to keep control of their content, so DMCA take down notices and legal challenges became the norm.
However, few would deny that this method hasn’t worked, with Internet users uploading just as much copyrighted material now as ever before.
A Change In The Matrix
Thankfully, the video sites saw the need for change and last year saw YouTube launch a Video ID system that identified copyrighted material and then gave the original owners the option to ask for its removal or monetize it.
As already discussed, an increasing amount of media companies are taking the latter option, and deciding to make money from piracy rather than spend money trying to fight it.
MTV and MySpace
Now, MTV Networks has announced a similar scheme for identifying and monetizing its content on MySpace. This includes shows such as Punk’d, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report.
MTV has decided to use Auditude for this purpose, which is a technology that will identify any one of 250 million videos as belonging to the network, and then add advertising to the streaming video.
Everyone’s A Winner
This not only allows MTV Networks to make extra money from Web video, it means MySpace can stop being copyright cop and allow users more freedom to upload the clips they want to.
What’s bizarre is that the company that owns MTV Networks is Viacom, which is currently suing YouTube for $1 billion over the Google-owned video site’s inability to keep copyrighted material off the Web.
The Monetization Issue
This announcement is yet another example of Internet video becoming accepted and being used by companies to their advantage.
The biggest challenge still facing mainstream use of Web video is that of monetization, and if more companies took measures such as this one then that could become much less of an issue.
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