Other leagues have forced YouTube to yank fans' uploaded videos off the site, claiming copyright violations. An NFL spokesman told The Toronto Star, for example, that YouTube recently agreed to take more than 3,000 clips featuring NFL game footage off the site.Well like I said, that clarifies it... somewhat. Hopefully the league will take a very liberal view of fan generated stuff using their footage. Personally, I feel this kind of viral video marketing by fans helps the NHL greatly and unless something is done with their footage that's just plain inappropriate those of us out here in the internet nether regions should be allowed to continue putting stuff out that reflects our passion and love of the sport. It should be and I believe it will be a win - win proposition for all involved.
Under the terms of its deal with NHL, YouTube will filter out unapproved video clips and give the league the option to remove them. Kevin Donahue, YouTube's vice president of content, said the NHL may decide in many cases that from a promotional standpoint it would serve its interests to keep fan-made clips up and running.
"The NHL can either say, 'Yeah, I want that taken down,' or 'Leave it up because it's a great promotional value,' " Donahue said. "What's interesting is that they are making a programming commitment to deliver a significant amount of video clips that, to their benefit, will make more people aware of the games going on through the season."
On a Web site that drew about 30 million unique visitors in October, the NHL-sponsored "Plays of the Week" uploaded on YouTube had drawn more than 83,000 page views by Friday morning.
Another highlights collection on NHLVideo, titled "Best Hits of November," had drawn more than 81,000 page views by Friday.
Overall, the NHL videos rank well below uploaded sightings of Paris Hilton or video clips of English Premier League soccer in terms of page views.
Yet marketing professionals and academics who study online marketing opportunities called the NHL's partnership with YouTube a smart move.
"I think the appeal of YouTube is it's not a 90-minute or two-hour broadcast of the games. It really packages the excitement and action on ice in small, kind of digestible segments," said Andy Rohm, a marketing professor at Northeastern University. "With the younger demographic, we're dealing with a generation that's kind of characterized by media-consumption ADD. So it's really, I think, a smart vehicle with which to reach these people."
(my emphasis)
Especially for me... if you haven't noticed.
1 comment:
Word had it that the NHL pressured YouTube into hosting all of their clips for either nothing, or next to nothing, due to legal reasoning.
Now if the NHL wants to push it even further, I don't see what they would have to gain from this.
Stop while you are ahead Bettman!
Evan,
www.theNHLarena.com
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