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Deals With Content Providers Won't Solve Copyright Problems for Video Sharing Sites, Says ClipBlast! CEO Gary Baker

Posted on: Tuesday, 26 September 2006, 12:00 CDT

ClipBlast!:

WHAT: When Universal Music recently accused YouTube and MySpace

of copyright infringement, the former quickly responded by

announcing a revenue sharing arrangement with Warner Music

Group covering the use music videos online.

Gary Baker, CEO of ClipBlast! (www.clipblast.com), a

pioneering video search engine, is available to comment on

the emerging issue of video sharing and copyright

protection. According to Baker, it is vital, in these

early days of video on the Web, that in providing content

to consumers, sites also provide real protection to

copyright owners. Baker maintains that user-generated

content should and must coexist with copyrighted material,

but not to the detriment of rights holders -- and that

YouTube's proposed copyright identification/royalty

recognition system is not likely to satisfy rights

holders.

WHO: Gary Baker is founder and CEO of ClipBlast! Baker has

focused his 20-year career at the intersection of

television, interactive media and the Internet. He

previously served as a management consultant for IBM

Interactive Media, leading Internet strategy, live

webcasts and web application development for clients,

including Hertz, Toyota, the Grammys, PGA Tour and

CompUSA. Independently, he consulted and provided

strategic direction to CinemaNow, Inc., the first website

to offer video-on-demand. Baker founded and later sold

Catalog Site, an early e-commerce pioneer, in 1997. He

also has directed and produced children's television

programs, music video and sports programming for the Walt

Disney Company, Dick Clark Productions and ABC.

"YouTube, Blip.tv, MetaCafe and others are wonderful.

Uploading and sharing user-generated video is

consistent with the spirit of the Web and merits

everyone's support. But to the extent that YouTube

and other video sharing sites stray from the

organizing concept of 'user generated' -- by wrapping

copyrighted material within their respective brands

-- that's abuse, and it doesn't have to happen. It

undermines the freedom that should be the hallmark of

the Internet. Users should be able to find

copyrighted content all over the Web, not in some

restricted island or walled garden."

-- Gary Baker

WHY: Indexing video is both different and more difficult than

working with static text, Baker says, noting that more

kinds of rights are associated with video than with any

other kind of content. "The best way to honor rights

holders is to drive traffic to their content at the

websites they control, so they benefit -- and users

benefit," he says. "That's the proven, time-honored

method of the web and allows the rightful owners to

monetize their art. It's simple and it works."

ABOUT CLIPBLAST!: Founded in 2004, ClipBlast! provides pioneering video

search that uses patent-pending technology to continuously

update the largest index of video content from across the

Internet. ClipBlast!'s fast, easy interface gives users

instant access to millions of quality, highly relevant,

targeted clips from the world's major media brands,

independent producers and individuals -- clips that

inform, enlighten, inspire and entertain. The company is

based in Agoura Hills, Calif. To learn more, visit

http://www.clipblast.com.

HOW To schedule an interview with Gary Baker, contact:

Ken Greenberg

Edge Communications, Inc.

818-990-5001

ken@edgecommunicationsinc.com

Source: Business Wire

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