White Hat Media News
16/06/2008 | Suing For Links from Google Are They Kidding
Members of the Belgian press are suing Google for $77 million in damages for use of their material. The Belgian newspapers claim that the stories are copyright protected and they don’t want readers linking to their websites from Google News. Apparently the Belgians want readers to find the news stories through their own home pages. The distorted logic is that if readers seek news stories through the newspaper home page they stay on that newspaper’s website, whereas if they follow the link from Google, readers will leave the newspaper website and search again through Google News.
It seems incredible that the people in charge of Belgium’s press have no knowledge of how the web works. Maybe they should stick to producing print based newspapers. Most website owners would bite Google’s hand off for offering free links into their website. Not so, it appears the Belgian Press. The irony of this is that many bloggers responding to the Information Week article reporting this story found it through Google.
This story, together with Viacom’s continuing court action against Google for allowing copyrighted material to be posted on YouTube, demonstrates how some media organisations are failing to embrace the web’s ability to open up new markets for free. New products are being developed, including YouTube’s own Insight tool, which can help identify how the market is reacting. YouTube Insight can measure when certain videos are being viewed. As many advertisers discover the importance of advertising on social media, tools, such as YouTube Insight, can prove invaluable in maximising advertising revenue.
Scripps Networks, part of media conglomerate E.W. Scripps Co., have recognised the opportunity that YouTube offers in bringing its brands to the attention of social networkers. Scripps Networks have made available short clips from its lifestyle channels, including home-improvement channel HGTV, DIY Network and Fine Living Network, on YouTube.
Contrasting attitudes among media organisations make for interesting and exciting times for the legal department of Google Inc.
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