The fear of copyright infringement — and the potential legal consequences of such — are the primary focus of a recent Los Angeles Times article about YouTube. Most of the quotes come from legal counsel at entertainment studios and from others who are approaching YouTube, and other video sharing sites, from a “how do we protect our property” perspective. But what the article fails to address is how marketers who get past the “mine mine mine” mentality can actually utilize these sites to their benefit.Most grown-ups will acknowledge that companies and artists are entitled to protect their copyrighted material, and are due fair compensation for usage of said material. If people are posting full episodes of TV shows, or other creative projects, and are directly taking revenue away from a legitimate business model then that’s wrong. But there’s a larger consideration here: The use of content that’s created for expressly promotional purposes on a viral video site is something marketers should embrace and encourage.

Source: The Video Promo Pipeline