The Value of Content online

As I have blogged here before, YouTube’s free-wheeling dynamic is being forced to change by its popularity and aquisition. The latest is Viacom asking Google to remove copyrighted material, such as MTV or Comedy Central clips from YouTube.

This negotiation really is an important moment, particularly in light of what has happened with the music industry. YouTube appears to be emphasizing the point in this quote from a spokesperson: “It’s unfortunate that Viacom will no longer be able to benefit from YouTube’s passionate audience, which has helped to promote many of Viacom’s shows.”

What is the value of user-generated content online? Its all getting hashed out now, and it is fun to see the dust settle. The research that Neil Hair and I are doing should provide some additional insights into this great question.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 3rd, 2007 at 10:45 pm and is filed under Web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.