New Restrictions on CGM

Many individuals frequent the popular video sharing site, YouTube, to view outrageous and funny video clips that are posted from all around the world. Although this practice is what the site is known for, users can also download any television shows. Until recently YouTube users had access to television episodes from networks like MTV, BET, Nickelodeon and other Viacom properties.

However, according to an article from MarketingVox, negotiations recently broke down between YouTube, Google, and Viacom, and the site is being forced to remove more than 100,000 clips. In the past, this popular content represented more than 1.2 billion video streams on YouTube.

Viacom's dissatisfaction with the site stems from the fact that Youtube and Google retain all the revenue from using the material yet they have failed to provide compensation to the people who actually worked on creating the shows. Viacom also claims YouTube failed to provide promised filtering tools that would let Viacom and others know when copyright-infringing videos were being uploaded.

This evolution of CGM was bound to stir up ethical and legal questions. It's important for all parties involved to know the laws and adjust their practices online accordingly. For now, with this impending restriction the users lose more than the powerful corporations.