Viral Video Creators Lose in YouTube Music Deal by George Ziemann -- July 30, 2009 Jill Petersen and Kevin Heinz transformed their wedding march into a very non-traditional wedding ceremony opener, which became an instant hit on YouTube. So why does Sony get all the income? We turn to a story by Brad Stone at the New York Times. "YouTube, which is owned by Google, is pointing to the video as a sign that it is forging a positive and profitable relationship with the music industry. In a blog post this morning, the company said that the amateur video... had sent sales [of the year-old song it contains] skyrocketing to #4 on the iTunes chart and #3 on Amazon's MP3 store." I bet Jill and Kevin were glad to hear this, but they didn't see the irony in their song choice (considering the artist's reputation), so they probably won't get this either. "Sony Music... used YouTube's content management tools to claim the song and overlay a click-to-buy ad on the video, which directs viewers to download the song from either iTunes or Amazon (earning YouTube a commission)." So someone watches the video, wants the song on it, clicks though, resulting in Sony, the artist (theoretically), and YouTube all get paid. I think they're forgetting someone. "One of our main goals at YouTube is to help content creators effectively make money from the distribution of their content online. That they can do so in a way that brings artists and our community together to create fun, spontaneous and inspiring works, is one of the best and most exciting things about YouTube." The act like they remember the "content creators." But no mention of Jill and Kevin getting paid. They were the ones who created the content. I've seen it. The song they chose was incidental. The video would have been just as entertaining with any other song at the same tempo. It wasn't about the song, it was about breaking the rules of a wedding march and changing it from the slow walk of impending doom to a celebration that just can't wait until the ceremony is over to begin. "One of our main goals at YouTube is to help content creators effectively make money from the distribution of their content online." So when will this start? Jill and Kevin, or their video photography and choreographer, were the creators of this video. Yet they are not on the list of people being paid. Why is that?

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