Memorial Day Weekend

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend and spent time with the ones that matter the most. I did just that up in Maine with my family and our new family, the Grubers.

Jane, my older sister, is getting married to Wyatt Gruber and we had Wyatt's sister, Lyndsey and Chris and their two kids up with us. We all had a great weekend and it was great hanging with them.

Adam Eland Meeting- WallStrip

Had a great meeting with Adam at Wallstrip, which was just acquired by CBS. It turns out that Adam is a neighbor of mine. The Wallstrip offices are a half a block from Cutcaster's headquarters and I walk by it everyday and never noticed. Small world.

Adam and I spoke a lot of the time about Wallstrip and his experience creating the daily show. We spoke a lot about Fair Use, how he uses clips that he doesn't own in Wallstrip, if things will change under CBS and what the future holds for licensing content. We both agreed that the licensing waters were murky and in need of clarification but for the time being Wallstrip was protected under the Fair Use clauses. We spoke at length about taking content from the web and licensing it over to TV or vice versa and how that could be set up. Adam has been doing some great work at Wallstrip and I'm glad we got to meet. Best of luck over the next few years and I am sure we will be hearing more about Adam in the future.

So the question remains, how do you safely and legally license content that you want to use? What laws or rules should you follow?

Stop War Graffiti

This short video delivers a pretty powerful message.

This isn't a political debate but just an appreciation for the interesting way to present an idea

Off to Germany!

I'll be away from next Wednesday to Monday in Germany on business and some fun. Germany is full of some awesome talent and I'd really like to welcome all the Germans to Cutcaster.

I spent 7 months in Berlin studying at Frei Univ. and 2 months in Munich and loved both times. It's great going back to Munich for Oktoberfest every middle weekend. Ill be back again this year. hahaha.

Can't wait to go to Frankfurt this time around.

Meeting with Adam Elend - Producer of Wallstrip

I'm very excited to be meeting with Adam Elend, one of the producers of Wallstrip tomorrow. Today, it was announced that CBS has acquired Wallstrip for 5 million bucks. Congrats to Wallstrip. As a part of BrightRED Pictures, Adam and his partner Jeff Marks have been writing, producing and directing these daily videos since January of 06. For those of you who don't know what Wallstrip is please check them out here.

I'm really looking forward to asking Adam about the possibility of major networks licensing shows from the web like his to put on Television set top box in the future, how licensing/content partnerships work at Wallstrip and what his plans are for the future now that they are a part of a big media conglomerate. Crossing from the web to TV will be an interesting experiment. I'd like to know if he thinks Wallstrip could have been licensed on a per show basis or in some other form to a TV channel like CNBC or Bloomberg or even a VH1 "Best Week Ever" type show. However I'm sure they are not complaining about being married to CBS now.

You can check out Adam's blog here.

Gerry Moffatt- Bhutan Expedition

Gerry Moffatt is a great guy and a buddy. Check him out this week on the Discovery channel. Also my good friend Christine Buesser is on the two hour special.

The documentary follows them down two major rivers in Bhutan to an area no explorer had been before. As you will see, Gerry takes a licking but keeps on ticking.

There are some classic lines delivered about Gerry at the start of the Film.

Awesome work but that's not all. He is currently leading with Conrad Anker an expedition that will retrace the last steps of legendary explorer George Mallory.

I'll post updates as I get them. You can read more about his Bhutan trip here.

Clip Request Letter From Warner Brothers Recieved...

I received a letter from Julie Heath in the Warner Brothers Clip Licensing Department. This is who I sent in my faxed request to use the Fountainhead clip last week. It turns out I am not allowed to use the clip so for now I will leave it up at YouTube and let them take the heat and keep pursuing more info. And I quote:

Dear Mr. Griffin:

Thank you for your facsimile letter received May 14, 2007 in connection with the above (see Fountainhead).

Please be advised, as a general policy, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. does not license clips for use on non-Time Warner websites and we do not wish to make an exception in this instance.

I am sorry that we cannot be of assistance.

Sincerely,

Julie Heath
ED



So that is a bummer. I am going to set up a call with Julie to ask her more about licensing the clip. There has to be a way to use it legally or at least help clarify some of the ways that people can legally use these clips.

With the rise of things like YouTube its seems that more effort has to go into teaching people the correct way to license content like this and what can happen if you don't do it legally. It's really swimming in murky, unexplained waters and no one is really saying anything except "Take that down." I think it will take an army of lawyers for Warner Bros to monitor all these video sharing services and blogs that will use this clip or others like it. How will the licensing of clips and footage look in the future. That is what Cutcaster is trying to solve. An efficient, secure and understandable licensing structure and royalty tracker. Any thoughts?

Joost May have leaked Partnerships by Accident

It's being reported over on Mashable that Joost, one of the best known start-ups to come to market recently, may have inadvertantly posted deal plans that it was pursuing with other companies. PDFs can sometimes hide data which can still be viewed. Here is a link to the PDF file and then selecting everything on the pages and copying and pasting to a notepad. For a list of 61 deals, they are looking to close go to page 16, which contains a ton of text that you can't immediately see but will in Notepad.

It's anyones guess but this error may have been caused by converting the document from Powerpoint to PDF.

Getting paid for online video.

There has been a number of Internet sites that have popped up which promise to pay you for your content and offer the solution to monetizing video online. Some seem to offer a lot of value and are good ideas while others seem like "get rich quick" fads. I've been pouring over there the last two years and this is a list of some of the services out there with a brief description. The links are to their offerings so you can see more. Let me know your thoughts if you have used them or know of any other good services.


Blip, Big fan of Blip and it's user interface. I know one of the founders who is very savvy and great innovator. Disclaimer-My sister is an investor in Blip
Metacafe, Emailed them a week or so ago about licensing videos. I have not heard back from them yet.
CustomFlix, Seems like this site is a good option for indie filmmakers looking to sell their content alongside some featured Hollywood films. I've heard from some people that it is tricky to get visability on their site.
GreenCine
Revver, They were the first true video sites that split advertising revenue with users. While no one got rich they were an innovator. I'm told that you get paid based on the number of times someone clicks on the ad at the end of your video.
TurnHere Interesting company and idea. Does profiles for local businesses and areas and pays a set fee for produced content.
Atom Entertainment
Brightcove One of the "gorilla darlings" in the industry. Gives a few options for monetization. I have found it a bit confusing lately that they have been promoting their site as a destination instead of a Content Delivery Network aka TV to Internet broadcasting.
LuLu, bit of a clunky site but still offers a few interesting ways to monetize your video content
Grapefix
Eefoof Shares advertising revenue with the creators.
Panjea, my old neighbor in NYC, Arthur
Si-Mi
Cruxy
Dovetail I get more emails from these guys then anyone i know. I didn't like that I had to download a piece of software to view content. They offer Producer accounts which are free and pay a dime for each download.
Break
Expert Village
Google Video
DivX Has an interesting pay-out model.
EZTakes
Current TV Some people don't like it but I am a fan. Not a great way for making money though in my opinion. More for casual watching.

I know that there are a number more. Please list them in the comments below. Thanks

Censorship on Flickr?

According to this BBC article that was linked to through Techmeme, Flickr (owned by Yahoo) is being accused of deleting comments from a distraught photographer who had some of her work sold on the site without her permission (and wasn't ultimately compensated for it). Although management claims they were not trying to silence or censor her, Flickr definitely didn't handle the situation well and have probably lost a few customers because of it.

Licensing Video Clips with Warner Brothers

Still no word back from Warners Brothers about my request to use the clip from the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. It's been almost a week now and I am getting ready to make a call over the the licensing department. I wish this process was digitized so it would take a lot less time. Having to fax in the request seems a bit outdated.

More Ways to Monetize Video

Great write up over on Master New Media which I wanted to point out again. I've read this first one and was a big fan of it. Thought it was interesting but not ground breaking but does show a wide variety of content and how it can be monetized. ScottKirsner has a great list of Sites that Help Video Producers Make Money, with a link to the author's excellent ebook The Future of Web Video: Opportunities for Producers, Entrepreneurs, Media Companies and Advertisers


Rev2.org has some good tips for monetizing online video


Robin Good discusses Revver in more detail in Video Advertising Marketplace Bets On User Contributions: Revver. I've never been a huge fan of Revver but it's def one way people are making money with their content.


Jensense.com discusses How Google Should Monetize YouTube With AdWords & AdSense.


I've always been a fan of Robert and read his blog almost everyday. The Last Podcast discusses Robert Scoble's Problems with monetizing online video.

Maxim Top 100 Hotties!

Noureen DeWulf, one of Ashley's closest friends (disclaimer:Ash is my girlfriend), is staying with us the next couple of days while she is in town to catch up with Ash and party at the Gansevoort Hotel for the top 100 hotties as voted on by Maxim readers. Noureen kicked ass this year and came in at a cool 100. She came in two nights ago from LA with her man, James and we went to the party last night. I'm expecting a top 10 performance next year out of her and another ticket to the party.

I had a few good stories from the party but this one was a pretty good one. I was introduced by a friend to Natasha Henstridge, the chick from Species I was told later, and didn't know who she was from the next person. I love pointing out strangers that vaguely resemble a famous person and making my friends turn around and check out some "bizzaro" as we have come to call them, who barely looks like that famous person.
So, we were talking and she told me that she acted in a movie called The Whole Nine Yards, which I may have seen. I proceeded to act like I knew what she was talking about, no clue though, and asked her about working with Keanu Reeves and doing a football movie. HAHAHA. I got a bit confused and thought she was talking about the Replacements. Both movies I have not seen but the whole football reference got me tied up. Sorry about that.

Streaming Media East in NYC 5/14/07

Went to the exhibit today and met with a few really interesting companies ie On2 Technologies, Entriq, Navisite and Limelight. It's amazing how much innovation and excitement there is around video and digital content in general. I was particularly impressed with thePlatform who was bought by Comcast last July. I had thought for a while that we couldn't work with thePlatform becaseu of their affiliation with Comcast but that is not true. I'll definitely be talking to them more int he future.

PaidGamePlayer

Zac McGrath, one of my best buddies, is launching his site PaidGamePlayer or PGP or PGPizzel to those in the know. Chaz, his partner, and he have been working day and night to get this to be the premiere casual gaming community on the internet. I've tetsted it out and really enjoyed the user experience as well as the excitement of potentially earning an income playing games I would do normally for free.

Casual gamers please check it and be on the look out for this site which has amazing potential to help you make some extra money while doing something you love. We're expecting a lot of good things out of Zac and Chaz so Good Luck.

Amazon bites into Apple.

Today, Amazon did what the doctor said and took a bite out of Apple. iTunes fear not though. Amazon is looking to take on Apple in the music download service business that Apple has dominated with iTunes for years. Amazon will begin by selling tracks without the digital rights management restrictions (DRM). This is an inevitable step in the right direction for the selling of digital music and a smart move by Amazon even though it might not be a big advantage in its battle with iTunes, who will also start selling DRM-free tracks from EMI at the end of this month.

I think a positive side note to the events unfolding is that EMI, one of the major giants in the music business, is open to offering digital music without the built in restrictions, see DRM, that make it very hard for consumers, who legally buy the tracks, to make copies. When do you think the other biggies will follow suit?

I think this is a great step forward for the consumer and a smart decision by Amazon.

Cutcaster Homepage design.

Here is a mockup of the design for the Cutcaster homepage done by Tavish, our secret weapon. Just a taste of what is to come. To those of you who have signed up on the Cutcaster coming soon page, we are looking forward to our launch later this summer and are ready to rock with you. We couldn't do it without them or their comments and we are looking forward to all the excitement to come.

Just Faxed Warner Brothers about Clip Licensing

Just sent in my fax to Warner Brothers to license the Ayn Rand Fountainhead clip. They won't allow email submission which is a bit of a drag on how long this should take. Their clip licensing requirements are pretty standard. I'm thinking this is going to take a long time but will keep you up. A nice automated process online is what is needed in my humble opinion. There are too many steps just to get to some information. It is restrictive to start just trying to play by the rules when uploading other peoples work. Cutcaster is working to solve and minimize all the needless steps and confusion when licensing clips.

Advertsing on YouTube...

As Techcrunch notes in a posting from NewTeeVee yesterday, Google's first major attempt to monetize YouTube looks like it's falling flat. Their inclusion of in-video advertising as opposed to pre and post-roll ads doesn't look like its going to be a moneymaker. I guess time will tell if these less obtrusive ads can actually be effective, but for now, the formula for making money from user-generated video or content in general still hasn't been unlocked.

Survey...

abouttheimage.com recently
posted an article about a survey done by Accenture that claimed "user-generated content is the top threat to media and entertainment industry." That's right, you heard it here, a reputable consulting firm is saying something most of us already knew -- namely, that user-generated content (in our case digital video, film, and still-images) is the wave of the future.

Getty got back to me!

Hello John,

We do not own the copyright to this footage. If you wish to see the
type of footage we can license to you, please visit our site at
www.gettyimages.com/film

If you wish to license a scene from Fountainhead, you will probably
have to go straight to the studio. Stock footage houses, in general, do not
have scenes from movies for licensing.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

My best,
~Stephanie

So Getty customer service can't help me license this clip or allow me to license the clip through Getty. She was pretty helpful pointing out to go to the studio but didn't know which one. Warner Brothers as we knew already but interesting to see that is as far as getty will go.

Licensing with MetaCafe?

I tried this same licensing experiment again with MetaCafe. Apparently you can license clips on their site. It doesn't give any information on the site about licensing User-Generated content but forces you to email an address for producers rewards.

I emailed them about this clip on wednesday and still havent heard back. There has to be a faster way to do this if I really needed the clip.

Clip Licensing- Fountainhead

Warner Brothers which produced the film owns the rights to license the clip and anyone who wants to use it has to mail, not email, or fax in a request to use it. Pretty slow process and such a pain if you ask me.

You can view how slow this process is here and all the info that they need.

http://www2.warnerbros.com/main/company_info/company_info.html?frompage=sitemap

I'm going to fill this out today and send it in tonight. I'll be sure to keep you up.

Joost Raises $45,000,000

Joost which isn't lacking from buzz, talent and multiple content partnerships now just added to its bank account with a sizable round of financing. Once the investor's drooling ended, it came out with 45 million. Thanks to my friend Michael for pointing out I was missing on the blog. Always on top of your game. I'm looking forward to see how Joost will go head to head with YouTube.

How long to locate film rights?

Thought I would post this classic Fountainhead scene. I'm going to do an experiment to see how difficult it is to locate the license for this clip and get the cost so I could post it legally on the blog. I have a good idea what it will cost but not sure how long it will take. Let me know what you think it will cost, how long and then what you think about Howard Roark. I've asked Getty and Warner Brothers to see who could license the rights and how much it costs to license just this scene for my blog. Until I can post this the legal way, I'll let Youtube catch the heat for me.

This should give you a little background on the scene, courtesy of wikipedia, one of my favorite sites. Post your guesses.

Did Newscorp just buy Photobucket?

Looks like yes. MySpace is acquiring Photobucket for $250 million in cash. We’re also hearing that there is also an earn-out for up to an additional $50 million. So 300 million. This was the question and rumor that had been flying around silicon valley the last few months. I'm sure some people remember that Newscorp shut Photobucket users from uploading their content to MySpace in a beef that was most likely used for more negotiating leverage in this deal. Today it looks like Newscorp did step up to the plate and swing for the Photobucket fences. Some thought that Photobucket could go for 250 or 300 million which I think would be a steal based on the loyal user base they have and subscription model which is raking in money. Photobucket is a relatively new company at 4 years old but has seen tremendous growth in the last year. If Newscorp confirms its buy of Photobucket it is a great way to counter Yahoo's Flickr which has been going gangbusters. How do you feel about large companies buying these creative communities?

Street Art on my Apartment- Judith Supine

Some cool street art by Judith Supine has been put up on my apartment building. Definitley interesting to look at. Pretty cool to see the spread of these artist's work all around where I live in downtown NYC. That's our bench and steps to our door in the background.