Group 2: Carmen, Leah, Ross, Priscilla, Riana

Group
T19, group 2: Carmen, Leah, Ross, Priscilla, and Riana

Online Video Sharing
Video sharing refers to websites or software where users can distribute their video clips. Some services may charge, but the bulk of them offer free services. The purpose of sharing video is too interact with either friends or the rest of the online community, providing an unlimited web space to share content at no cost.

How to Upload A Video to Video Sites

 * Most video websites have a similar method for their users to upload videos. Different video sites accept videos in specific formats, lengths and sizes.  It is therefore important to check the limitations of each video site before attempting to upload.


 * A video on how to upload videos to Google Video
 * A video on how to upload videos to MySpace
 * A video on how to upload videos to YouTube


 * Depending on the internet connection speed, the amount of time required to upload a video can be anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. According to YouTube, if users have a high-speed broadband internet connection, the uploading time is usually from 1-5 minutes per MB; this means that uploading videos to websites like YouTube is potentially time-consuming.

User Generated Video Sharing

 * User generated video sharing is by far the most popular type out of the three. It allows the average user to create and upload their own videos and share them with others over the internet.  These websites are usually free, but have restrictions such as size, format, duration, and content which restrict what can be uploaded.  Also, everyone in the world has access to these videos and can download them as they like.

Video Sharing Platforms

 * Video sharing platforms are less popular. These websites allows users or hosts to control their own video content on their account.  It also allows specified people to view the host’s videos, and it also protects them from other people and sites that may claim them as their own.  Some benefits of the video sharing platform include higher resolution for videos, faster loading during viewing, and faster uploading.  An example of a video sharing platform is PHPMotion.

Enterprise Video Sharing

 * The last platform is enterprise video sharing, which is specifically made for enterprises and companies. This type was specifically created to allow the users and hosts to share videos inside a corporate network.  In this way, the video can be shown to a controlled audience and protected against content leakage to the outside world (ie. competitors).  Benefits of this platform include cheap usage and the ability to track the usage of the videos.  Additionally, enterprise sharing supports high quality and broad video file formats; therefore not many restrictions exist to limit the video to be uploaded.

Advertisement On the Internet

 * Companies are strongly encouraged to advertise their product on the internet because of the wide number and variety in viewers and because no advertising expenses are required. All a company needs is to make a good video with a clear and concise message and a logo is all the company needs to advertise on the internet.



Copyright Law

 * A Funny Video on What Copyright Law Is and What Fair Dealing Can Do

Definition

 * Copyright plays an important part in defending creators against the use of their product without their permission. Its requirements, penalties for infringement and exceptions are described in the Canadian Copyright Act.  This document discusses in detail how the replication of creative work is to be controlled, which makes it difficult to get a general idea of how the law works.  As it applies to many media types including books, music, painting, articles, and video, it can be a useful concept to understand.

Debate

 * In December of 2008, a dispute between YouTube and Warner Music Group caused many music videos to be removed from the popular video site. This occurred because Warner believed the videos to be in violation of copyright law; they had not been paid rates for the use of their music.


 * As a result of the renewed interest in making profit from online video, there has been an increase in the amount of ads on many video host sites. (For example, YouTube’s parent company, Google, is now demanding that it earn an income.)  Decline in the global economy has also had an effect on the methods that are being used to generate capital, and has delayed deals that would allow video sites to work with the music industry.


 * Fortunately for these companies, increased video popularity is improving their ability to earn ad revenue. YouTube has already agreed upon a licensing renewal with Sony Music Entertainment and is continuing to post advertising links to other sites to further the effort.  What does this mean for the online video community?  We may have to pay in order to view some of the content that is freely available, or we may have to fish through a lot of ads to find quality content.

Fair Dealing

 * In order to avoid infringement of copyright law and to keep any videos you upload online, your content must follow certain guidelines. When using songs in your work, for example, both a recording and publishing license must be obtained (from Amazon.com, Play.com or PRS  listings).  Even so, the songwriters and performers may require royalties each time your video is viewed.  To avoid this, many websites provide royalty-free or buy-out music that is can be bought for a small fee.


 * Many less expensive alternatives are available for the public. The more creative uploader may borrow cleared music from a library or simply arrange and record his/her own work to receive copyright.  These methods are often preferred, as the fine print in copyright-protected content may limit its use by region, time, or purpose of use.


 * One last option remains to anyone who wishes to include someone else’s work in their own. Included in the copyright law are exceptions such as the Fair Dealing clause.  This particular document defends certain copyright violations if they are used only for “research or private study”.  In order to claim this right, names of authors must be cited and the content should fall under certain criteria, as suggested by the CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada in the Supreme Court of Canada.  They are as follows:


 * Purpose
 * Character
 * Amount of the content used
 * Alternatives to the dealing
 * Nature of use
 * Effect of the dealing on the original work


 * The effect of the first four of these must be more important than the others for these criteria to apply. The hope is that copyright restrictions will not detract from purposes such as education, criticisms and reports.

The CNN/YouTube Primary Debate

 * YouTube and CNN partnered during the 2007 US election, enabling YouTube users to pose questions to presidential candidates. Questions could be uploaded via a 30 second clip onto YouTube and the best, as judged by CNN, were asked to the politicians themselves. The candidates would then answer these questions during the debate, while CNN reserved the right to pose follow up questions if they believed the question was insufficiently answered.  Furthermore, after the debate was over it was posted on YouTube, allowing users to ask additional questions after it was completed.  Users could easily comment with text below the video, or in turn could post a video comment and tag it to the debate page.  Such an idea was instrumental in giving power back to the masses, because people were not only able to ask questions of their own to the presidential candidates, but could discuss it afterword with a large group of people. This technique will surely be used again, as the freedom of questions and extensive debate are powerful tools.

Online Video and Viral Campaign Videos

 * Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee recognized the value of YouTube as a free marketing tool and worked with Chuck Norris (already a famous viral celebrity) to take advantage of it. In the 30 second commercial Chuck Norris didn’t endorse Mike Huckabee, rather, he told America how it was going to be. Furthermore beyond the humorous aspects of his commercial he managed to get across some of his important campaigns points. Unfortunately for Mike, his attempt at a viral video while marginally successful did not create as much of a stir. Leading me onto one candidate Obama who with his supporters used YouTube very effectively.


 * Obama was by far the most successful candidate at using YouTube to market his campaign, coming at no surprise he also became the next American president. Before the Primaries even started, his campaign supporters posted a video on YouTube, a direct take off from the famous apple 1984 commercial, which portrays Clinton as big brother. This commercial said that Clinton is just another politician, but I am the change America needs so wake up and stop listening to the same garbage... “Vote Different”. This was part of Obama’s arsenal as he quickly gained popularity and solidified himself as a strong candidate for being the president


 * His “Yes, We Can” video, could be considered his most important viral video on YouTube. A music video adaption of his New Hampshire speech by the Black Eyed Peas’ and a slew of other celebrities allowed his most famous supporters to not only get behind him but help spread his message. Instead of being just some boring speech, they made it entertaining, quickly getting 17 million views. This allowed his campaign message along with the things he stood for to spread quickly and freely across the internet. In this case a lot of people who may otherwise not have seen or known what he stood for got to se his message. It is clear that Obama won the internet viral video campaign and in turn this played a vital role in him becoming the next American president. In the future, it can be certain, that politicians will quickly try to capitalize on YouTube as a method for free and powerful advertising tool in creating a grass roots campaign.

Growth and Popularity of Online Videos
Uploading and viewing online videos has become a popular trend in today’s society and has rapidly grown within the last few years. People can play online videos on their cell phones and iPod is making it easier and more convenient for users to watch wherever they are. Online videos are especially popular among young adults but are also reaching out to the adult population. There are many different websites which host online videos; one of the most popular is YouTube which attracts about 20 million visitors a month.

There are also many advertisements on the internet which involve online videos. According to a comScore Networks survey, almost 75% of U.S. internet users watched online videos in July of 2007, compared to 71.4% in March of that year. This shows that about 134 million U.S. internet users are watching online videos. Part of the reason online videos are so popular is because there are not only millions of viewers, but also many uploaders who want to post videos on the internet to share with the world. There are also many accessible commercials and video clips posted online for viewers. Internet users with spare time watch online videos to be entertained or even to do research.

Online videos are continuously growing in popularity. They are currently used for advertisements, politics, research and entertainment, and will continue to grow in the future.