Friday, September 12, 2008

Points to ponder!

I ust switched the telly in office to UndieTV and saw that infuriating Rajiv Makhani on telly doing a show called News Net. I've caught glimpses of the show earlier and friends at GK-1 assure me that it is one of the highest rated shows on that channel. However, I was just wondering - the show lifts clips off the internet, puts a "Courtesy: YouTube" or attributes the video as submitted by some viewer who discovered it. However, I think NDTV is flirting with or actually indulging in large scale copyright violations on this show.
Let me elucidate. YouTube is up shit creek, not just with the Viacom lawsuit but also with T-Series suing them in the Delhi HC for copyright violations. The fact of the matter is that much of the content on YouTube or on other video sharing sites is copyrighted. I do not believe the argument I believe NDTV might use if sued "But we found it on YouTube" holds any weight. They are a media company and probably understand the nuances of copyright better than most. Secondly, I have uploaded videos to YouTube - for no commercial return and I'm quite happy to put those videos up for people to watch on YouTube. Like some images I have on Flickr, I'm happy to put some of those videos under the 'Non Commercial Creative Commons' license. But isn't News Net a commercial show? By which I mean, does NDTV make money from the show? The video is copyrighted to me, so if someone else is making money, no matter what amount by showing the video aren't they supposed to part with some money. Some of the videos they've shown have are watermarked with a 'blurred' channel's logo - serious copyright violations in my book.
Newspapers and magazines across the country treat material on the internet, images and text as 'free' content. It isn't and I'm surprised NDTV went down the same path. These guys a large and supposedly 'respectable' media company even though they have attrocious HR practices and extremely egoistical people in positions of influence. I'm just waiting for the lawsuit(s).
The second point is regarding ESPN's SportsCenter - which is a highly opinionated sports news show - it is not just a highlights reel but a full-on news show and apparently the4y hate the powers-that-be in cricket. I don't believe that the I&B ministry has classified 'Sports News' as a separate category. Aren't news channels limited to just 26% FDI and doesn't ESPN have 74% FDI.
Just points to ponder!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well, the 'idiot' is apparently going to be the head of some new Sci-Tech channel brought out by UndieTV and nasscom or something related to Min of Science & Tech...

He's apparently shutting down his side business of food and fashion to give (mostly wrong) gyaan on TV