Metro-Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) Studios will reportedly provide full-length feature files and TV content on Google’s YouTube video sharing service. It was reported early last week that YouTube was preparing to add this type of content after spending months mending its relationship with Hollywood studios. On Sunday, news circulated that MGM will be the first studio (and most likely not the last) to add full-length content to the popular video site.
YouTube currently has a deal with Lionsgate, but it only stretches to short clips from films and TV shows. The deal, if the reports are accurate, signals a turning point for YouTube since it has largely been a headache for Hollywood studios since it first launched. After Google acquired YouTube, it refused to take responsibility for copyright infringing content posted by its users, citing the DMCA itself as protection.
Since then, it has made moves to remove pirated video content from its site at the convenience of the content owner. The reason for the change of heart is suspected to be Hulu, a video service already loaded with premium content that reportedly makes as much ad revenue as YouTube with only a fraction of the users. YouTube might have the numbers of users and reputation to compete, but it had to smooth over its relationship with the content companies first.
Another problematic area for YouTube was its image as a site offing web browser-locked low quality video content. YouTube has moved to provide higher quality video content and is developing video playing software that will provide clearer images. According to sources, the typical split of revenue will be 70% to the content owner and the rest of Google.
Result for: content companies
The infamous BitTorrent tracker, The Pirate Bay, is continuing to grow at a rapid rate. The site announced that is has reached 22 million peers this week, an increase of 10 million peers since April this year. Earlier this year, the tracker had set itself a goal of reaching 20 million peers and recently smashed that figure in much less time than was expected.
The site currently is host to over 3 million registered members and is evidently used by multiple times that figure. The site has survived attempts to shut it down from all angles, but its users have never suffered any major inconveniences or outages from those efforts. The site ridicules legal threats and other notices from legal reps of content companies and publishes them for all to see, and has had no problem standing up government pressure.
The site maintains that it is, and always has been operating legally since it does not offer any illegal content whatsoever to its users.
