Serious thread about starting a clean ukuleletube. Ideas and inputs are welcome.

Denno

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Hi!
After all this problems with youtube shutting people down because of copyright and crap I had an idea, why not start a clean ukuleletube?

I own the domain ukevids.com and I want to get some feedback on how we might be able to make this idea come to life.

The biggest problem would be bandwidth i belive since videos tend to suck it up like a 1 month baby drink its mommas milk.
But im sure there is some way around that also. I have not yet started to look around at companies that sell bandwith in bulkdeals.

Second problem would be a tubescript. But I know there are a few out there for sale so nothing is impossible, we just have to agree to one and get it. :)

Third problem is funding. Would people be prepared to donate for the sites survival? I was thinking on a idea I use at another forum I run where all the costs are out in the open and shown to the users. In that way everyone can see how we stand and how much money we got to work with or how much money we are missing to stay alive. It has worked out real well on my forum.

So what is the positive things?
Well for one, all ukuleleplayers gathared at the same site!

We could have contests if companies would like to sponsor us each months for example.

We would be free from huge corporations.

I would suggest us to make some kind of companystructure (sorry dont know the name) with a group of maby 6-7 people for making decisions and to handle problems that might turn up.

Anyway this is just and idea that struck me when I saw them starting to shut down ukulelechannels on youtube. I know I am not the only one who are on my toes about my channel getting shut down.

Your ideas and thought about this? Is it possible, do you think it would work?
 
I think one record company lawsuit will bring it to it's knees in attorney cost, right or wrong.
 
Honestly, I don't think so. And once you get successful enough to be profitable (or at least pay for your bandwidth) the same people are going to come after you for the same copyright issues.

But the idea of this tube is not to make cash, its just to make it go around. Every dollar that we make in terms of funding and donations will go back into the site to develop it or to make contests. Does that not change the situation?
 
But the idea of this tube is not to make cash, its just to make it go around. Every dollar that we make in terms of funding and donations will go back into the site to develop it or to make contests. Does that not change the situation?
No, copyright law is still what it is. The only way you could make it work is to enforce public domain tunes only. Originals, classical, folk, that's about it.
 
No, copyright law is still what it is. The only way you could make it work is to enforce public domain tunes only. Originals, classical, folk, that's about it.

I agree. It's a great idea, but unfortunately, it wouldn't work for long. One the record companies catch wind of it, they will be all over you for copyright crap. I wish it weren't that way and that people had the right to free public performance, but it is the way it is. And with the record companies struggling the way they are right now, they will attack every penny they can. I heard on the radio today that they are proposing a bill so that stations pay them for every song. That's ridiculous. I miss the days where music was for the people and not everyone trying to grab the extra buck.

So anyway, solid idea, just wouldn't work out IMO.
 
There is something similar to what you are describing already running.
http://www.uketoob.com/
But the videos there are just ones from YouTube (and maybe other video sites) embedded.

I likewise think the original poster's idea misses the mark. It's not YouTube that's the problem; YouTube does what it has to do because the entertainment industry's lawyers will take it down in court if it doesn't. The only way you'd have a chance is if you based it in some country that is soft on copyright infringement.
 
As long as there won't be any copyright issues, I think it sounds awesome!! :D
 
I heard on the radio today that they are proposing a bill so that stations pay them for every song. That's ridiculous. I miss the days where music was for the people and not everyone trying to grab the extra buck.

They've already had that for decades. PS, if there was a day when music was "for the people", i.e., no copyrights to protect the writer, it was way before you were born, and way before your grandparents were born.
 
But the videos there are just ones from YouTube (and maybe other video sites) embedded.

I likewise think the original poster's idea misses the mark. It's not YouTube that's the problem; YouTube does what it has to do because the entertainment industry's lawyers will take it down in court if it doesn't. The only way you'd have a chance is if you based it in some country that is soft on copyright infringement.

China?????
 
Denno,m I think this idea is great if you can find away around the copyright issues. In that other thread everyonbe was so upset at the laws but the laws are the laws. Maybe a grassroots campaign targeting our senators to make them aware of the idiocasy of these laws might be more beneficial.
 
you could host it over seas so they couldnt shut it down. some where that doesnt honor international copyright
 
Denno, I think it is actually a fantastic idea. As the others already have mentioned, the copyright issue might bring it down. Nonetheless, I know from the MarloweDK case, that after his Youtube account was shut down, he started his own site: youplayalong.com -- and it's still up and running.

I've been thinking about doing exactly the same thing as you are proposing after they suspended my account. There is actually an open source video platform which can be customized to anyones needs, somehow like a Wordpress template for your own blog. The copyright issue could be obsolete if the platform would be defined as an educational ukulele platform where video have to be posted with the lyrics and chords, or something like that. Then we could refer to the Fair Use act.

That's how far I got. If you'd want to try it, I'd definitely want to help!
 
Yeah we need to present this as a non profit site. the idea I had was just to make sure to cover our costs, and then have contests and stuff like that. Invest everything back into the site for the members.

I get the feeling the reason why the recordcompanies are so far up youtubes ass is because youtube make money on the commercial for each video, I mean the members usally dont make any money on their videos.

Question is if we would be good enough to make people come to this site. I dont know if people post on the youtube because there is a shitload of people there or just because it is the only solution today.

But as far as ukuleleplayers goes we have millions all over the world, I am sure a solid tube for ukeplayers would be a good idea.
 
you could host it over seas so they couldnt shut it down. some where that doesnt honor international copyright

That's only a handful of countries, off the top of my head only 14 didn't sign up to the Berne Copyright Convention, and any advances in international copyright law since will make it a minefield to choose a country, not to mention operational and bandwidth costs. Youtube was not cheap to develop and is not cheap to run, it was running at a loss for years and only in the last couple of years has it broken even and even started making Google some money.

Fact of the matter is, it's easier said than done. My advice is to find a colo facility with a huge amount of redundant international bandwidth, install a few petaboxes and seperate the platform into sections: fair use, instructional, public domain, and possibly copyright infringing. Talk to an actual lawyer about your options with regards to the last section - maybe you can make a clear indemnification policy. You may simply want to go with a company like Akamai, who already have a huge international presence. My final piece of advice is to look at HTML5 Video.
 
I guess the reason most people post on Youtube is the size of the potential audience out there! It's free to post videos up there and at the moment minimal risk of legal proceedings direct to the poster, hence Youtube (as the host) shutting people down instead of getting into copyright battles themselves with the record labels.
You as the host for this proposed site will be liable for any copyright infringement. Although the site would probably remain under the radar for quite a while, there is a big chance that Warners or similar will sooon be out to get you for their pound of flesh!
 
Don't forget that individuals can be held in violation of copyright. So just because the site is hosted in a "soft" country doesn't mean they can't send the lawyers after you with hatchets. They can, and they might--I have heard of DRAMA TEACHERS in public schools being sued for violations by performing plays without proper rights, changing scripts, casting girls in boy's parts. Disney is especially cranky about such things.

The real answer, it seems to me, is to write and perform your own music, or the music of folks on this forum, who give you their blessing.

Or anything PD. Lots of options there.
 
I like the idea. Not to be a wet blanket, but if you call your site "ukuleletube" or "uketube" or anything else that remotely sounds like "YouTube," YouTube will sue you (and probably win) for infringing on its trademarked name.
 
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