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Tue, 04 Nov 2008 MTV and MySpace put ads in pirate videos

New technology inserst adverts into upload clips

Heather Havenstein ComputerWorld

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In a move that could have far-reaching repurcussions for the film and TV industries, MTV and MySpace have teamed up to insert ads in pirated videos.

The two companies are working with Auditude, a start-up firm that has developed technology that can identify any video which has been uploaded to the MySpace by someone other than the copyright owner, and allow the content owner to insert ads in the video, the companies said.

The Auditude tool can be used to add information to a video clip, along with ecommerce links providing opportunities to buy expanded clips or merchandise related to the content.

"Auditude is opening the floodgates for users to program video on MySpace and ensure copyright holders get paid," Jeff Berman, president of marketing and sales at MySpace, said.

"In one fell swoop, Auditude and its partners are empowering consumers and building a better business model."

The stakes have been high in the battle between media companies like Viacom and sites like YouTube that provide a home for user-uploaded online videos. In March 2007, Viacom filed a $1bn (£630m) lawsuit against YouTube's parent company Google, contending that videos shown on the site infringed on its patents.

Rick Turoczy, a blogger at Read Write Web, noted that the partnership could prompt content owners to stop efforts to halt the posting of clips from their television shows online.

"[The partnership] might have those content owners changing their tune - and actually encouraging people to upload all the content they want," he added.

"With Auditude, MTV Networks will be able to identify practically any of their content on MySpace - so long as Auditude has a record of it - without relying on user-generated keywords or tags. Once identified, the MySpace-hosted MTV content becomes an advertising platform for MTV," Turoczy said.

NEXT PAGE: Identifying content ensures MTV can extend its reach

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Do you share your creations online?

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Comments received


APJ said on Tue, 04 Nov 2008

Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!

When are the corporations gonna learn?

If they try this with You Tube, they can kiss their "audience" goodbye!

Nobody is making money from uploading an old video to YouTube that may or may not be posted "illegally".

Copyright holders should wake up and realise that people aren't selling their material, they are promoting it for free, it allows the owner to see there is an interest in old videos etc - and that maybe a DVD release or otherwise would be a good idea!

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