The suit(pdf) filed by video sharing site Veoh against Universal Music Group turns everything around on the traditional system of copyright law.

Veoh’s argument, like Google’s answer to the Viacom suit enters new territory based on theoretical societal changes that have taken place as a result of the democratization of media. Both companies put the onus on the user, and argue that as a result they cannot be held liable.

Google has argued that Viacom’s complaint:

threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment and political and artistic expression

The Veoh argument is much more succinct. Veoh is simply an internet “service provider.” They are protected by the Terms of Use all users must agree to prior to uploading content. And because all content is uploaded by third parties who acknowledge they are the rights holders Veoh is not responsible for any infringement.

Veoh claims to have done more than is required under the DMCA, and as a result is seeking relief from a potential future suit UMG has threatened. While the suit is against Universal, if Veoh wins, it would set a precedent protecting them from similar suits by all rights holders whose copyrights have been similarly infringed.

What is so unique about this is that Universal and other copyright holders have for years been comfortable knowing that the high cost and exclusivity of content creation required producers to work with them because of built-in entertainment industry safeguards. Networks and Studios have developed policies requiring all material to be licensed and approved by E&O folks before being distributed to the public.

These safeguards all fell apart once online music distribution and online video came in. The industry responded to this disruption with the DMCA and began sending takedown notices in bulk, paying temps $11 an hour to troll for unlicensed material online. Most of these notices are sent for long tail content which is freely available but rarely viewed.

The problem is that the online video distribution model offers no way to predict whether a piece of content will be viewed 10 times of 10 million times. The amateurs creating 99% of the online video out there are not making any money. Requiring them to pay license fees for something no one views is ludicrous.

Instead what is needed is a system requiring material to be licensed when used by professional new media content producers. The entertainment industry is no longer run only by those with deep pockets. Music and stock footage should be accessible at a reasonable cost to those producing video professionally at all levels.

The entertainment IP licensing firms have had it good for a long time, they can fight it all they want, but sooner or later they too, will need to adjust to the new media environment.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 1:10 pm and is filed under Copyrights, DMCA, Legal, News, User Generated, Web 2.0, technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.