Online Video Bill of Rights

SnapStream emailed to point up their TV Viewers Bill of Rights, which lays out a number of guidelines that networks would be well suited to follow if they want to hold on to their audience. Television is no longer the only, or even best, option available in more and more living rooms across America, and network programmers need to make an extra effort to keep people tuning in.

Thomas JeffersonFor instance, NewTeeVee doesn’t watch a lot of OldTeeVee anymore (though the Lost finale was a lot of fun, if blurry thanks to weak terrestrial broadcast signal in my apartment). What are we watching? A lot of video streamed and downloaded online. And I do mean a lot. And we are willing to pay, as long as we’re getting something valuable in return.

So I’ve got some opinions of my own on some best practices for people providing content online, and I see no reason why these guidelines couldn’t apply to everyone from the lowly vlogger to vast media megalopolies. That’s the beautiful thing about bills of rights — they’re supposed to apply to everyone. Though as Sally Hemmings might have pointed out, your mileage may vary.

No Pre-roll Ads: Not only are they annoying, they’re not effective. If you’re doing content that’s so short-form you can’t do mid-rolls, then go for a branding bug, on-camera read or a post-roll. Nobody minds if you give users the option to click on stuff, so use the technology to increase the impact while decreasing the annoyance.

Disclose Sponsorships: Product placements are a fine line to walk. Too subtle (i.e. not disclosed) and you’re a shameless shill. Too obvious (i.e. Hiro’s Nissan Versa) and it brings people out of the story. Be careful and conscientious. If your project depends on a product placement deal that isn’t a good fit, maybe re-evaluate your project.

Stream it Free: I don’t care what it is, web shorts, television shows or even movies. Put it online and sell ads against it. Most are conditioned to an advertisement here and there, and most would rather click a URL and start watching rather than wait for a download to watch later. The “Saturday Movie of the Week” used to have limited commercial interruptions, so why not do the same online?

No DRM For Downloads: I’ll pay for content that I can own and use however I like, and yes, that includes giving copies to friends. Why would you penalize me for promoting your show to the very people who might get as hooked as I did? Not being able to download your program to my Zune because you’re locked into iTunes won’t make me switch to an iPod — it’ll make me stop watching your show.

Love Your Fans: Nothing engenders the good will of an audience like giving them something for free, with no strings attached. Whether a Brooklyn resident embeds your show on their blog to mock it ironically or praise it sincerely, they are promoting it either way. Don’t crack down on fan sites and viral distribution — instead, help them help you.

Close Your Windows: Because if you don’t, the web will close them for you. I understand that controlling chronology and geography are very, very profitable advantages, but they’ve reached the point where that kind of control is no longer viable or sustainable. Put it all out at once, everywhere and people can’t take advantage for you.

Enable Creators, Not Monopolies: The founding fathers actually had a pretty liberal view of copyrights — first, it was pretty much OK to steal from superpowers like Great Britain and France. Second, copyrights were meant to protect initial opportunities from innovation and creativity, not as bludgeons to stifle discourse, profit from disused patents with new relevance, and protect indefinite rights to inherited assets by heirs and corporations.

Have any more suggestions? By all means, leave them in the comments.

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