Editing World

YouTube: the next generation

When someone tells you to check out a great YouTube link, the likelihood is that it’s a cat doing something funny. Or maybe a baby doing something funny. Or if it’s a viral hit, most probably a cat and a baby doing something funny.

Perhaps this is why, if recent reports by the BBC are to be believed, YouTube wants to move beyond cute videos to become a big player in movie rentals.

Sony, Warner Brother and Universal are some of the big names to sign up to provide people with movies via the site’s on-demand rental service.

Classics will reportedly be available to rent in the US at $2.99, whilst new releases will be a dollar more at $3.99, with some movies due to be available online at the same time as the DVD.

What do you think of this new direction for YouTube? What’s your consumer behaviour when it comes to watching and downloading movies?

A common mistake

There’s no denying that YouTube’s a great platform for aspiring video producers, but a common problem is copyright infringement. Type any popular search term and you’re bound to be faced with a video montage of images or clips of TV shows. Sure this is entertaining, especially for the Twilight generation where tweenagers can waste hours gazing at their favourite hearthrob, but it’s not that enjoyable for the company’s that own the rights.

That’s why I’m extremely interested in a story that featured on Mashable. YouTube’s now launched a campaign to educate users about copyright infringement. One of the features it involves is watching a video. YouTube’s also changed how it deals with copyrighters. It used to be that an offender would have a black mark on their permanent record, but starting this Thursday any user with a good history can remove a strike by watching the video.

Along with the mandatory video, YouTube has also changed how it treats copyright offenses. In the past, YouTube would essentially keep a person’s copyright violations on his or her permanent record, regardless of having a solid track record overall. Starting Thursday though, YouTube users with a good history will have the ability to “remove a strike” from their record by watching the video. As well as this, YouTube are launching a Copyright Center to provide more information and frequently asked questions about copyright law.

Are you an infringer? Or more importantly are you aware that you’re an infringer? Will this campaign make you reassess your ways?

Welcome!

For a long time I’ve been following all the news going down in the software editing industry. Be it video or audio production, I just can’t get enough! But what’s the use in being a fountain of knowledge if I don’t take the time to share my insights and musings? Sure I’d prove a worthy secret weapon if I happened to stumble upon an editing pub quiz, but alas I’m yet to find such a niche evening out!

Then it came to me.. A tumblr would be perfect to capture and share all that’s going down in the industry.

So here you have it, welcome to editingworld! Feel free to follow and share whatever you think is of interest and I’ll be sure to follow back.

Happy reading!