Interesting copyright and marketing news...
New Weapon in Web War Over Piracy
As media companies struggle to reclaim control over their movies, television shows and music in a world of online file-sharing software, they have found an ally in software of another kind.
The new technological weapon is content-recognition software, which makes it possible to identify copyrighted material, even, for example, from blurry video clips.
The technology could address what the entertainment industry sees as one of its biggest problems - songs and videos being posted on the Web without permission.
The technology involved is really neat. But I see the application of it as problematic. The old guard media companies still aren't dealing well with the online world. They're spending all their time fighting against the natural evolution of things, trying to hold on to revenue streams that were already in jeopardy before Napster and BitTorrent hit the Internet. Revenues from traditional advertising have been dropping steadily--that's why an hour long block of TV show now only has between 38 and 44 minutes of actual show instead of the 45 minutes it once had. They're also ignoring the free viral publicity that the sharing of a fun clip can be. If I consistently like what I see in the clips, I'm more prone to watch the show.
Of course, even when companies take advantage of those alternate streams of marketing, things don't always go quite as planned...
Hip-Hop Outlaw (Industry Version)
Kilgo works in the R.I.A.A.’s Atlanta office, and in the weeks before the raid, the local police chief said, R.I.A.A. investigators helped the police collect evidence and conduct surveillance at the studio. Kilgo consulted with the R.I.A.A.’s national headquarters in advance of the raid, and after the raid, a team of men wearing R.I.A.A. jackets was responsible for boxing the CDs and carting them to a warehouse for examination.
If anyone involved with the raid knew that the men they had arrested were two of the most famous D.J.’s in the country, they didn’t let on while the cameras were rolling. For local law enforcement, the raid on Drama and Cannon’s studio was no different from a raid they executed in October on an Atlanta factory where a team of illegal immigrants was found making thousands of copies of popular DVDs and CDs to sell on the street. Along with the bootlegged CDs, the police found weapons and a stash of drugs in the factory. (The Fox report on the DJ Drama raid included a shot of a grave-looking police officer saying, “In this case we didn’t find drugs or weapons, but it’s not uncommon for us to find other contraband.”)
But Drama and Cannon’s studio was not a bootlegging plant; it was a place where successful new hip-hop CDs were regularly produced and distributed. Drama and Cannon are part of a well-regarded D.J. collective called the Aphilliates. Although their business almost certainly violated federal copyright law, as well as a Georgia state law that requires CDs to be labeled with the name and address of the producers, they were not simply stealing from the major labels; they were part of an alternative distribution system that the mainstream record industry uses to promote and market hip-hop artists. Drama and Cannon have in recent years been paid by the same companies that paid Kilgo to help arrest them.
That's marketing so guerrilla that the people bankrolling it don't even know they're involved. I really can't think of much more damaging to an industry that persecuting and prosecuting the grass-roots creative talent that aspires to be part of the industry. It's the old blood cutting off the new blood at the knees.
Yes, it's a complex set of issues, but again and again I see groups like the MPAA and RIAA say how much piracy is hurting their bottom line and how they have to treat everyone like a big-time criminal. But then I see all the smaller groups--individual artists and creators especially--who do quite well for themselves in niche markets and, sometimes, larger communities without imposing any of the restrictions the big guys do. That has to say something about the way the public views the purveyors of the wares. That has to be a clue about what the people--the customers--really want.
As media companies struggle to reclaim control over their movies, television shows and music in a world of online file-sharing software, they have found an ally in software of another kind.
The new technological weapon is content-recognition software, which makes it possible to identify copyrighted material, even, for example, from blurry video clips.
The technology could address what the entertainment industry sees as one of its biggest problems - songs and videos being posted on the Web without permission.
The technology involved is really neat. But I see the application of it as problematic. The old guard media companies still aren't dealing well with the online world. They're spending all their time fighting against the natural evolution of things, trying to hold on to revenue streams that were already in jeopardy before Napster and BitTorrent hit the Internet. Revenues from traditional advertising have been dropping steadily--that's why an hour long block of TV show now only has between 38 and 44 minutes of actual show instead of the 45 minutes it once had. They're also ignoring the free viral publicity that the sharing of a fun clip can be. If I consistently like what I see in the clips, I'm more prone to watch the show.
Of course, even when companies take advantage of those alternate streams of marketing, things don't always go quite as planned...
Hip-Hop Outlaw (Industry Version)
Kilgo works in the R.I.A.A.’s Atlanta office, and in the weeks before the raid, the local police chief said, R.I.A.A. investigators helped the police collect evidence and conduct surveillance at the studio. Kilgo consulted with the R.I.A.A.’s national headquarters in advance of the raid, and after the raid, a team of men wearing R.I.A.A. jackets was responsible for boxing the CDs and carting them to a warehouse for examination.
If anyone involved with the raid knew that the men they had arrested were two of the most famous D.J.’s in the country, they didn’t let on while the cameras were rolling. For local law enforcement, the raid on Drama and Cannon’s studio was no different from a raid they executed in October on an Atlanta factory where a team of illegal immigrants was found making thousands of copies of popular DVDs and CDs to sell on the street. Along with the bootlegged CDs, the police found weapons and a stash of drugs in the factory. (The Fox report on the DJ Drama raid included a shot of a grave-looking police officer saying, “In this case we didn’t find drugs or weapons, but it’s not uncommon for us to find other contraband.”)
But Drama and Cannon’s studio was not a bootlegging plant; it was a place where successful new hip-hop CDs were regularly produced and distributed. Drama and Cannon are part of a well-regarded D.J. collective called the Aphilliates. Although their business almost certainly violated federal copyright law, as well as a Georgia state law that requires CDs to be labeled with the name and address of the producers, they were not simply stealing from the major labels; they were part of an alternative distribution system that the mainstream record industry uses to promote and market hip-hop artists. Drama and Cannon have in recent years been paid by the same companies that paid Kilgo to help arrest them.
That's marketing so guerrilla that the people bankrolling it don't even know they're involved. I really can't think of much more damaging to an industry that persecuting and prosecuting the grass-roots creative talent that aspires to be part of the industry. It's the old blood cutting off the new blood at the knees.
Yes, it's a complex set of issues, but again and again I see groups like the MPAA and RIAA say how much piracy is hurting their bottom line and how they have to treat everyone like a big-time criminal. But then I see all the smaller groups--individual artists and creators especially--who do quite well for themselves in niche markets and, sometimes, larger communities without imposing any of the restrictions the big guys do. That has to say something about the way the public views the purveyors of the wares. That has to be a clue about what the people--the customers--really want.