With Google buying YouTube, many bloggers are buzzing about the potential mess Google might get into with all the copyrighted material that YouTube is currently hosting. Conversations around copyrighted material and file swapping (post-Napster) are starting to swing back with Internet video gaining more momentum and popularity.
Today, UK’s Times Online reported that a new EU proposal might require all Websites (including user generated sites and personal websites) that feature video images to conform to the same regulations as broadcasting rules.
Additionally, Reuters today also reported that the Universal Music Group filed lawsuits against two other online video sharing sites Grouper and Bolt.com for allowing users to share pirated versions of artists’ videos.
We are definitely starting to see a trend of increasing regulations and lawsuits governing online video. PodZinger obviously supports copyright protection but the industry needs to make sure that unnecessary regulations do not hinder the growth of user generated content and eventually pose a threat to the creativity of independent content creators.
