Viacom vs. YouTube: The Battle over Viewing Right

With Viacom’s recent demand for YouTube to take 100,000 clips containing Viacom content off their site, I decided to investigate into the blogopshere and uncover the reactions to this new development. YouTube is unbelievably popular and an integral component in public relations’ transformation into a technologically drive industry. If YouTube suffers a set back then the new age of public relations could suffer a setback. While Kamau High's blog displays YouTube’s rebuttal to the demand but, it is impossible to ignore Viacom’s advantage if the matter is taken to the courts. YouTube is claiming “it is not their right to control what and how viewers choose to view;” they say Viacom only has the power to decide how their films and shows are made. It is an admirable defense to Viacom’s command, but the real concern should be whether a judge will think the argument is applicable to the copy write laws. Putting legal affairs aside, Scott Karp believes the issue will dissolve due to the appeal of YouTube’s platform. For a while now, YouTube has been the new “it thing” on the web, but did it really expect other companies to not catch up? Private companies have seen the success of the new website and they must be planning to alter their own website to incorporate YouTube’s model. Both blogs composed cohesive arguments indicating the downfall of YouTube could be approaching, and my comments to those blogs can be found below.

Comment on Kamau High's blog:
Both sides of the argument are acceptably present here, but I cannot agree with YouTube’s rational for keeping Viacom’s clips. To be honest, the lazy part of me wants to side with YouTube. YouTube creates an enticing environment where any video clip can be seen in an instance, but then I ask myself is it fair to Viacom? Viacom spends the effort and expense to produce these films, so they should solely be allowed to distribute them. I would be curious to know how YouTube is avoiding the piracy laws. They may be able to avoid then now, but that may not be the case if Viacom takes them to court. According to this post, YouTube is asking its followers to boycott Viacom. My initial reaction was that YouTube might have some success with the boycott due to the esteem surrounding the trendy new site. After further consideration, I reversed my decision. Viacom’s cliental is composed of some of the biggest brands in movies and television today; those brands’ legacies and checkbooks would easily out due any rebellious stunt by a website new to the game.

Comment on Scott Karp's blog:
It is true that YouTube is in danger of losing their professional video creators; it is somewhat likely to happen if Viacom continues its quest. As for the private companies, such as Comedy Central, jumping on the bandwagon of embedding clips, I cannot believe they have not done it earlier. Many television stations are airing episodes of their shows on-line a few hours after the episode has premiered. ABC has their primetime shows available to watch on-line for free; incase someone misses the show and does not have tivo. Although, the act of private companies embedding their shows and Viacom taking away their clips will not result in the demise of YouTube because YouTube offers something the others do not. YouTube is filled with numerous amounts of home videos; some may show people dancing or acting silly while others may be cell phone clips of important events. These cell phone clips are being considered a new form of media; if reporters are not there to capture the actions then an average citizen can. Viacom cannot take away these kinds of clips, and I believe these clips create most of YouTube’s appeal.