My First YouTube Content Ownership Dispute
In the year after my divorce, as I was trying to figure out what to do next, I uploaded a handful of videos to YouTube. Some are of me just being goofy and singing, a couple are of me just talking to the camera about what I was going through and one was a documentary about Geoff Smith called Making Gravity with Geoff Smith.
Some of the videos contain songs and YouTube associates the songs with copyright holders and provides links to buy mp3s of the original recordings. To me that seems like an ideal use of technology. I got to be goofy and sing a couple songs that provided sales opportunities for the copyright holders, and no one would opt for my silly versions over the originals. Pretty cool.
I recorded one video on a Sunday afternoon. Typical for me, on a Sunday afternoon, Miles Davis was playing quietly in the background. It didn’t cross my mind that the song was even in the video because I’m talking the whole time. YouTube’s tech detected the song, but didn’t associate it with the title and didn’t provide links to buy the MP3. They contacted me to let me know they couldn’t monetize it unless I could prove I had the right to use the song. That makes sense. It’s a video YouTube could remove completely and I wouldn’t care.
This morning I got this notice about the Making Gravity documentary:
Dear 00neal,
Your video, Making Gravity with Geoff Smith, may have content that is owned or licensed by IODA.
No action is required on your part; however, if you are interested in learning how this affects your video, please visit the Content ID Matches section of your account for more information.
Sincerely,
- The YouTube Team
I clicked the link to dispute the question about my right to use the song. I produced the video with the songwriter and copyright owner, Geoff Smith. It’s a documentary created to promote Geoff’s music. The dispute process was smooth and I expect a positive resolution.
It makes sense to me that Google’s algorithm would flag the content. Geoff uses the IODA (Independent Online Distribution Alliance) to distribute and protect his music. They provide independent artists with the same type of protection that major labels provide to their artists. Neither IODA or YouTube would know that Geoff worked with me to produce this documentary about Geoff producing his song That’s Gravity. Ideally, YouTube will check it out, and they’ll add those groovy links so people can buy copies of the MP3. It really is a great song.
It is a good thing that we’re upset by SOPA, PIPA, and stories about videos wrongly taken down from YouTube. In my experience, YouTube is doing a pretty impressive job balancing the rights of copyright holders with the desires of users, and they’re doing it without the interference of Congress.
Get a copy of That’s Gravity from Amazon for $0.99!
Read MoreThe Gadget Report
Just in time for CES, I’ve launched a new Gadget News show called The Gadget Report at GadgetReport.TV. I’m using the first couple episodes to work out my workflow and attempt to get it up to speed by Monday.
There are a couple major challenges I have being on camera. So far, my biggest problem is bringing enough energy to my presentation. My natural speaking voice is very soft. I kick it up when I talk to strangers. I have to kick it up even more when I talk through a camera. It’s a matter of practice. I’ll get there quick enough. The other challenge for me is a tendency to talk with my hands. People found it distracting on episode 1, especially since my hands don’t necessarily relate to what I’m saying. 
In episode 2, which I’m editing now, I calm my hands. It turns out, though, there is some degree of correlation between how much my hands move and the amount of energy I put in my voice. It will be interesting to see if anyone notices that.
When you watch the first episode, I hope you’ll be reminded of the spirit and humor of GeekBrief.TV, and I hope you’ll get a sense of where I’m going with the show. I’m starting with a look back at some of my favorite gadgets, in different categories, from the last year. Tomorrow, I’ll start covering CES remotely the way we did with GeekBrief.TV.
I’m a pretty harsh self-critic, and I have to read the advice Ira Glass from This American Life gives to creatives from time to time …
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” -Ira Glass
Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.
The first few episodes of The Gadget Report will have flaws, but they’ll give you a taste of what I’ve imagined. It will take a bit of time to work out a workflow that isn’t interminable. I like making extremely produced shows. That takes a lot of time. Episode 1 took at least 20 hours to post-produce. I’m building template elements that are already helping me speed things up. My goal is for it to take six hours from writing to upload. It may take months to get to that point. I expect to release an episode approximately every other day.
If you haven’t seen the first episode of GadgetReport.TV, please watch it now and help me spread the word. Subscribe and give thumbs up at Youtube, and then subscribe in iTunes once it’s available there as a podcast later this week! I appreciate you giving it a shot and need your help in matchmaking the show with the audience that will enjoy it!
The script and transparent .png files of gadgets I cover will be available at GadgetReport.TV / episode number, so for example the script and images for episode 1 of The Gadget Report is at GadgetReport.TV/1.
Read MoreBring the Energy to Web Video
When someone asks for tips about hosting a good Web show, I tell them to bring more vocal energy than feels natural. Aim for Disney Channel energy and you might get close to the level of energy that works.
The old idea that the camera adds 10 pounds doesn’t apply to HD, but the camera sure seems to subtract energy. Of course it depends on the type of show you’re trying to do. One of my favorite Web TV shows is Kevin Rose’s Foundation. It’s very laid back and it works extremely well. It isn’t created to appeal to a Youtube audience, although that’s a great place to watch it.
If you’re just getting started, Youtubers are an important target market and people who do well bring a nuclear level of energy to their work. I’m just getting started in front of the camera and I don’t want to induce coma.
Yesterday, I shot a show and then promptly deleted it. Even though I thought I was bringing the energy. I wasn’t. Karina Stenquist is one of my favorite presenters (and one of my favorite sources for information about the Occupy movement). She told me to, “Drink 8 cups of coffee and pretend that everyone who will watch you is slightly deaf and will have to rely on your intonation to figure out what you’re saying.”
A great example of someone bringing the energy and doing well on YouTube right now is meekakitty. I’m not going to bring THIS much energy, but I’m shooting again to land somewhere between meekakitty energy and a tranquilizer.
Read More
Original Blade Runner Design Sketchbook
I clicked a link and started flipping through this out of print Blade Runner design sketchbook. It is very cool and free to enjoy. Just click the Expand button.
Read MoreA Convoluted Post About Comedy, Louis CK and Me …
I wasn’t willing to be mean during the legal divorce stuff. My advice to any nice guy is BE MEAN or get screwed. When she divorces you, loving her is irrelevant. I gave up pretty much everything I created in the last five years of my marriage in exchange for ideas not yet pursued. One thing I got to keep from the past is iYule.TV. It’s a 30-minute, beautiful film of a fireplace optimized for iDevices. You can get your copy here for $4.50 with much gratitude from me!
$4.50
Download Link will be emailed to you within 24-hours.
Here’s my convoluted segue …
I WANT to be producing GeekBrief.TV. It’s my baby. It got taken from me and perverted by the most worthless man I ever met. Now my challenge in life is to want to want to do something else. That isn’t exactly easy, but I don’t seem to get a choice because I’m not rich enough to hire lawyers to make my choice an option.
I have this asset, iYule.TV. It was featured in the New York Times and on Conan O’Brian. I didn’t sell it last year because, after the torture of divorce, I just didn’t care. This year I’m working on wanting to want something else so I made it available. It’s beautiful. It’s a DRM-free film with a request that purchasers don’t give it away.
More convolution …
I feel expected to produce a tech/gadget show. I have one ready to go, but my gut says tech was the place to be at the start of podcasting. Comedy is the place to be in podcasting now. I listen to comedians like Marc Maron, Adam Carolla, and Joe Rogan talk about podcasting and it makes me feel like I’m back in the day when we were pioneers in this thing. The safe part of me wants to move northern California and work on tech shows. The innovator in me wants to move to L.A. and work with comics to do something brand new.
More convolution …
So Louie CK does this absolutely amazing show called Louie. You can see it on Hulu. It shows the future of entrepreneurial entertainment. That show made me a fan. A few days ago, Louie CK did an experiment that made me very jealous. Jealousy is one of my weak points. He released a concert on his website, selling it with Paypal for $5. That’s great and as a fan, I’m glad he found this route. My problem is he’s been on Fresh Air on NPR and the Tonight Show and covered on all kinds of blogs suggesting he’s done something first. He hasn’t. He followed the path laid out by geeks and it has worked for him.
He shared the details and any geek could tell him, he got screwed!
The video production shot over two performances cost him $170,000. Raise your hand if you live in new media and could have produced the same thing for $30,000? Then he paid $32,000 for his “robust, reliable and carefully constructed website.” Again, I ask geeks in the room, could you have not done the same site for $12?
Here’s my point …
The geeks have figured this stuff out. I can’t speak for others, but I look up to comedians and I don’t want to see you get screwed. Connect with us and let us help you revolutionized distribution!
Louis CK is selling a 1.12 GB video of a stand-up concert for $5. I’m selling a 1.13 GB film of a fireplace for $4.50. He broke even after selling 50,000 copies. I broke even after selling 30. That’s not the point though. His break even can sustain his life. Mine can’t. The crucial success point I learned about from producing GeekBrief.TV is to create an intersection between fame and geek. Fame + Geek = Money.
I could save a comedian huge dollars on production, but I can’t deliver the same kind of attention … not yet at least.
In the mean time, thanks for buying a copy of my fireplace for your pocket!
$4.50
Download Link will be emailed to you within 24-hours.
Read More
Smooth Tracking Shots on iPhone / handheld cameras
With few exceptions, I believe moving the camera is filmmaking SIN! I’ll give you mercy IF you have tools to keep the camera from shaking. I believe in simply setting up a shot and letting the action take place in front of the lens. Jerky, quick camera moves might be an Avant-garde shooting style, but it’s a style that sucks. If you’re going to shoot in HD and you don’t have the tools to keep the shot smooth, just please follow this one simple rule:
DO
NOT
MOVE
THE
CAMERA!
If you want the camera to move, there are tools like balancing stabilizers, jibs, tracks, and of course tripods. Without them, your shots will be better if you don’t move the camera at all ever. With the right tools, though, you can achieve shots that are down-right cinematic even with an iPhone.
Mobislyder is small little track designed for iPhone, iPod Touch and other small video cameras that gives shooters the ability to capture smooth tracking shoots like you see in film. It has a variety of mounting options including and articulated mount, mobile device mount, 1/4″ standard mount, adhesive ball mount and a 1/4″ ball mount, so really the only limitation on cameras you can use with it is weight.
Glidetrack, the company producing mobislyder has them available for preorder at a special launch price of $129.49 at the time I’m writing this.
Watch this demo to see the kinds of shots you can capture with mobislyder:
