Hi everyone,

I was on a panel today with a lawyer from YouTube/Google and asked him
some hard hitting questions about giving content creators more rights
to their content on YouTube (changing the terms and conditions or
accommodating CC licenses, etc.). I got some great feedback and
encouraged him to suggest new practices at YouTube that could make a
lot of content creators happy.

1- He says that YouTube/Google is very interested in Creative Commons
licenses (he should know, he actually used to WORK for Creative
Commons), but that they hadn't found a way to really incorporate it
into their site yet. He said that there is an ongoing discussion as
to how they can incorporate this.

2- He says that YouTube respects double licenses. So, if you want
your content to be released under a CC license, indicate that IN THE
VIDEO and upload it to YouTube. While you adhere to the regular Terms
and Conditions of the YouTube registration agreement, your audience
must adhere to the terms of your CC license.

3- Over dinner tonight I made a suggestion... Since many content
creators are worried about YouTube terms due to their ability to
broadcast and sublicense your content without notifying you first, I
discussed the possibility of having an "opt in" or "opt out" checkbox
so people can tell YouTube very clearly whether they want their videos
to be viewed on the internet only or if they are cool with their stuff
being shown/sold on other platforms. This a very simple way
(technically) to change the terms for people who are dead against
their content being used cross-platform or without their knowledge.
He was VERY receptive and positive about this idea and says that
someone at YouTube actually suggested something similar last week. He
says he will look into this idea further.

That's about it! Basically, I learned an important thing that I
wouldn't have believed before... YouTube is not evil :P

Hope you're all having a good day,
Love, Casey

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http://www.galacticast.com/