Youtube is supposed to be for the people, but it cares about corporations more than the individual uploader. Cutting the music from videos overnight in January of 2009 violated what E.P. Thompson termed the moral economy. Youtube made a one sided decision to change the social climate for how it would do business with its up loaders on who it relies for its content.
In web 2.0 there will always be tension between corporations who submitted videos that they can use for free in their advertising, and consumers who expect content to be free. The tools to rip, edit, and upload content aren’t going away. There needs to be a reset in the moral economy.
There needs to be a balance between the rights of the content creators and the audience that puts their own spin on the material. While the corporation holds the copyright, shutting out fans completely would severely hurt audience engagement. The less engaged fans become, the less likely they are to tune in, which in turn hurts the corporation.
Flourish Kink,Chief Participation Officer at The Alchemists agency argues in chapter one that “by respecting and recognizing the contributions fans make to the value of stories, thus strengthening the moral economy surrounding a brand or text.” I believe that this sentiment should be the basis of a new compact between storyteller and fan.
How do we balance creator and remixer rights?
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