Friday, June 13, 2008

Wierd times on the internet

Keywords: advertising, user-generated content.

So I just got an email from youtube about a music video I made a long time ago. Here it is below:

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YouTube | Broadcast Yourself™

Dear YouTube Member:

UMG has claimed some or all audio content in your video Golden Videotape (part 1). This claim was made as part of the YouTube Content Identification program.

Your video is still live because UMG has authorized the use of this content on YouTube. As long as UMG has a claim on your video, they will receive public statistics about your video, such as number of views. Viewers may also see advertising on your video's page.

Claim Details:

Copyright owner: UMG
Content claimed: Some or all of the audio content
Policy: Allow this content to remain on YouTube.

  • Place advertisements on this video's watch page.

Applies to these locations:
Everywhere

UMG claimed this content as a part of the YouTube Content Identification program. YouTube allows partners to review YouTube videos for content to which they own the rights. Partners may use our automated video / audio matching system to identify their content, or they may manually review videos.

If you believe that this claim was made in error, or that you are otherwise authorized to use the content at issue, you can dispute this claim with UMG and view other options in the Video ID Matches section of your YouTube account. Please note that YouTube does not mediate copyright disputes between YouTube owners. Learn more about video identification disputes.

Sincerely,
The YouTube Content Identification Team

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Anyway, way back in high school I made this weird impromptu video with two close friends of mine, and we happened to stick a bunch of Blink 182 tracks over it. I'm way too lazy to look up the proper legal way of ensuring fair use, but we gave credit at the end of the video (part 2). Now it seems that Universal Media Group (UMG) has discovered this. When I first saw this email I got freaked out because I thought I was getting sued, or my account was going to be banned. However, it seems that UMG just asserts the right to "advertise" and, sure enough, I've now got a little advertisement box next to my youtube video's page. This is actually really smart. I don't get sued (which is a waste of their time anyway) and they get to profit of me and my friend's remix of their owned works. I'm not sure what the long-term implications this are, but I think it's a pretty sweet deal for all concerned.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Meta-blogging

My friend and fellow improvisor Monica Heisey interviewed me about blogging for the Queen's Unversity Journal (student-run paper). Link!

Monday, June 02, 2008

Where I work

Here is where I work at the Human Media Lab. I've got a great view overlooking the construction on the Queen's Centre, and I'm sporting two computers, and a bunch of random other techno-gear, which makes me excited.



The giant blue ball under the desk is a prototype I'm working on.