Fox takes on YouTube

February 4th, 2007

And that’s not the red bushy variety. The headlines

Broadcaster’s fury at leak of Simpsons and 24 – File-sharing site under pressure to disclose name

YouTube has been subpoenaed by Twentieth Century Fox following the posting of what were at the time unbroadcast episodes of the hit TV series 24 and The Simpsons on the video-sharing website… The case pits behemoths of the old and new media against each other, and threatens the free-spirited ethos that underpins file-sharing websites such as YouTube.

So how bad is it?

The episode of 24 is particularly embarrassing for Fox. The new season of the hit series, starring Kiefer Sutherland, was the centrepiece of the broadcaster’s January schedules. But the four-hour premiere, which debuted with much fanfare, was posted in its entirety on YouTube before being aired on TV.

Media and legal meltdown

Cases of piracy and copyright infringement surrounding file-sharing websites suggest that the notion they can provide an alternative to the entertainment industry has been abandoned as they become assimilated into the mainstream.
For the entertainment industry, there is a concern that revenue is being lost and that the sites themselves should be held liable. The Motion Picture Association estimates that major film studios lost about $2.3bn to internet piracy in 2005

In December 2006 YouTube agreed to publish warnings about copyright infringement on its Japanese-language website in response to concerns raised by a group of 23 entertainment and TV firms from the country. Represented by the Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers, the media companies had complained to YouTube about the volume of illegally copied and uploaded content available on the video-sharing site.

YouTube co-creation rev share || Combat soldier videos in the line of fire || Viral video and the death of the broadcast casino || Reposessing folk culture for the 21st Century

Bookmarks: