Hi Joe, well written article BTW.
The both Myspace and Youtube allow users to transact in copyright infringement. This is not sustainable. I realize that Youtube have some promising deals with some music giants, however in order for their business model in the long term they require:
- ALL Record Companies to partcipate in this deal
- Music & Video Recognition technology to determine which songs and video excerpts are taken from what sources
Those are BIG requirements. Indications are that Universal are already unwilling to particpate in that type of deal. We have all yet to see this incredible technology capable of separating from millions of uploaded video, what parts of songs require profit sharing. Perhaps the music industry giants who have signed the deal based on advertising revenue sharing, have seen something we haven't.
I am the M.D. of xindevelopment Ltd., a company based in Dublin, Ireland. We launched two weeks ago a website called
www.xinportals.com. It enables users to create websites with online shops that are capable of selling virtually anything including downloadable digital files. Our User Agreement is based on a UNIVERSAL Royalty Free License system. A user can upload a Digital File like an MP3, or a Video file that customers can then purchase. Roughly 7 days after a first being uploaded we review the file to check for copyright infringement. If a user has sold a File containing illegal content we delete the file from the system and refund the customer in full and issue the infringer with a 3 strike warning. If the File checks out the purchaser of the File can use that particular file within the content of a new piece of work. In other words, a filmmaker could purchase a song on xinportals and use that as their soundtrack on thier film, as that song is considered Royalty Free.
We believe it is a much more sustainable business model. And we only charge a small % per transaction. For example for a video sold for 25 cents, we charge 6 cents. Unlike the Myspace/Napster deal where they are going to charge 45 cents for a 1 dollar sale!
Would love to know what you think of the site Joe, we are just starting out and this Forum seems like a good first start in getting industry expert opinion.
Kind Regards
Johan P. de Borst
Managing Director
xindevelopment Ltd.