Then last week I wrote about Creative Commons – this week I wanted to follow up with the conversation that spurred by renewed interest in copyright. The conversation started at the Twin Cities Media Alliance Fall Forum http://tinyurl.com/25e542b I wrote about how to get copyright years ago (http://byteoftheweek.com/2005/08/24/copyright-on-the-web/) but we talked about some new issues.

One of the “new” issues is that many of the web sites that act as platform or cataloger of content often retain some ability to use your content. Here’s a snippet from Ustream about their policy…

Ustream.tv does not claim ownership rights in your User Submissions. However, by uploading, streaming, submitting, emailing, posting, publishing or otherwise transmitting any User Submission to Ustream.tv or on the Site, you hereby grant Ustream.tv a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, perpetual and irrevocable right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, prepare derivative works based on, perform, display, publish, distribute, transmit, broadcast and otherwise exploit such User Submissions in any form, medium or technology now known or later developed, including without limitation on the Site and third party websites.

I was kind of surprised to see how much control Ustream does have over my info. There are some social media tools that are more accommodating with copyright, such as Vimeo, Blip.TV and Flickr. Those tools include some easy ways to put a creative commons clause on your work. If you’re using the tool to market your services that might not be a big issue – if you’re on artist, this is a huge issue.

I wish I had a good answer to a more copyright-friendly livestream tool – but today I’m just raising questions