Want to get an insider’s view of the YouTube/Google deal? Check out Mark Cuban’s blog: Some intimate details on the Google YouTube Deal.
Includes such gems as:
The media companies had their typical challenges. Specifically, how to
get money from Youtube without being required to give any to the talent (musicians and actors)? If monies were received as part of a license to Youtube then they would contractually obligated to share a substantial portion of the proceeds with others. For example most record label contracts call for artists to get 50% of all license deals. It was decided the media companies would receive an equity position as an investor in Youtube which Google would buy from them. This shelters all the up front monies from any royalty demands by allowing them to classify it as gains from an investment position. A few savvy agents might complain about receiving nothing and get a token amount, but most will be unaware of what transpired.
Cuban doesn’t know if it’s true or not, but it sure appears to be.
[tags] google, youtube, gootube, tv, tv2.0, mark cuban, collusion, antitrust, john koetsier [/tags]
sounds good to me