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Thursday, April 18, 2013

YouTube wins case against Viacom (again)

Today is an important day for the Internet. For the second time, a federal court correctly rejected Viacom’s lawsuit against YouTube. This is a win not just for YouTube, but for the billions of people worldwide who depend on the web to freely exchange ideas and information.

In enacting the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Congress effectively balanced the public interest in free expression with the rights of copyright holders. The court today reaffirmed an established judicial consensus that the DMCA protects web platforms like YouTube that work with rightsholders and take appropriate steps to remove user-generated content that rightsholders notify them is infringing.

The growing YouTube community includes not only a billion individual users, but tens of thousands of partners who earn revenue from the platform -- from independent musicians and creators to some of the world’s biggest record labels, movie studios, and news organizations. Today’s decision recognizes YouTube as a thriving and vibrant forum for all these users, creators and consumers alike. Today is an important day for the Internet.

Kent Walker, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Google



Friday, April 12, 2013

And the winners are ...

Since its inception, organizations and individuals looking to change the world have used YouTube to rally an audience around a cause. Working at YouTube, we love seeing inspiring videos shared around the world everyday. “Good” videos have in turn inspired us to build tools to make it easier to run a campaign on YouTube and turn video views into action. We’ve made a 30-page “Playbook for Good” full of best practices to help you make the most inspiring and impactful cause videos possible and the videos just keep getting better and better.

That is why, for the fourth year in a row, we joined with See3 Communications to run the annual DoGooder Video Awards to recognize the year’s best nonprofit and cause videos. This year there were four different categories. And, for the first time, we accepted videos from creators looking to change the world one view at a time, not just nonprofit organizations.

The finalists chosen in the first round were all excellent examples of how far "cause video" has come since we first launched the YouTube Nonprofit Program in 2007. Nonprofits (and other DoGooders) are becoming increasingly savvy with online video; they're making funny, creative, episodic, and interactive cause-related content. They’re turning video views into awareness, petition signatures, donations, volunteer hours, and more. The four winners were chosen from more than a dozen finalists by public voting. Here they are:

Best Nonprofit Video Award: Follow the Frog 



The Rainforest Alliance’s “Follow the Frog” is a humorous tale of a well-intentioned epic misadventure, showing that sustainability-minded consumer choices can be more effective for change than vigilante conservation.

Change Agent Award: 350km message for women with ovarian cancer



After losing his mother to cancer, Raf Bauer set out on a 350-kilometer walk across Scotland to raise awareness and funds for Target Ovarian Cancer.

Funny for Good: No Joke. Choice Matters. Everywhere.



Pathfinder International’s “No Joke. Choice Matters. Everywhere.” comically portrays the difficulties many women face when trying to access reproductive health care. While presented in a comical light, the video outlines actions to help women for whom a lack of access to health care is no joke.

ImpactX Award: END7: How to Shock a Celebrity



The Sabin Vaccine Institute’s “How to Shock a Celebrity” successfully brought attention to seven Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) and helped generate funds to end these diseases by 2020. The campaign used video to, first, grab attention and then present a solution that donors could easily fund. The video translated into donations that averaged 20 cents per view. At more than 220,000 views, that’s quite a few vaccines, considering it only takes 50 cents to provide one person with treatment and protection against all seven NTDs for up to one year.

You can check out all of the 2013 finalists here.

Jessica Mason, YouTube for Good, recently watched African Men. Hollywood Stereotypes. [mamahope.org]



Thursday, April 11, 2013

Heyyyy, sexy music fans: PSY to perform new single live on YouTube this Saturday

After putting Seoul’s Gangnam district on the map and single-handedly reviving the powder blue tux, PSY’s got big plans this weekend and you’re invited to get involved.

Less than four months after he shattered records by hitting the 1 billion mark, the artist who made K-Pop global is back to perform his second single, “Gentleman” live for the first time ever. Where? On YouTube, of course.

This Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Korean Standard Time (2:30 a.m. PST), PSY will kick off a live streamed concert from the Seoul World Cup Stadium and share his new single with the world. You can check out the action at www.youtube.com/officialpsy, where the concert will be rebroadcast for 24 hours after the live event.

In the meantime, check out this message from our favorite sunglass-rocking pop star himself and make sure to mark your calendars for this Saturday.

Sun Lee, Product Marketing Manager, APAC YouTube recently watched "TEENS REACT TO GANGNAM STYLE," and Ali Rivera, West Coast Head Artist Label Relations, recently watched “BABY TWINS DANCING TO GANGNAM STYLE.”



Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Introducing Your April 'On The Rise' Nominees

In our monthly On The Rise program, we identify four partners whose channels are seeing significant growth but haven’t yet reached the 100,000 subscriber mark. Thanks to your help, we’re excited to share four partners who are just shy of that milestone this month. The nominees this April are each invested in a specific craft that helps them stand out on YouTube: friendship bracelets, guitars, skateboards, and cooking.

Here’s where you come in--you actually have the chance to help push these partners even further on YouTube. Review their videos below, vote for your favorite here, and one of these candidates will have the opportunity to be featured across YouTube later this month. In addition to your votes, each channel will be evaluated on criteria such as viewer engagement and channel optimization techniques to decide which partner we’ll feature.

In past months, featured On The Rise partners like psychosoprano and devinanderica have gained many subscribers and seen their careers take off, in large part due to your support. This month’s poll will be open until April 17, 5 p.m. PT, so don’t forget to vote for your favorite channel. Check back to see which channel will be featured on April 30.

beyondbracelets
Lisa has been making friendship bracelets for the past 15 years and has now expanded into string crafts. Her channel hosts tutorials on making a variety of bracelets out of different materials and is organized by level so you can learn regardless of your experience.



premierguitar
Premier Guitar’s print magazine launched in 2007, and their multimedia content has always been sourced by musicians, for musicians. Guitar enthusiasts at any level of experience will find entertaining and educational videos on this channel, and can continue their relentless pursuit of tone.



sprocker7
Aaron has been skateboarding for almost 20 years himself and shares that passion by teaching others how to skateboard and sharing skateboarding culture and news. His channel is filled with videos that can help beginners as well as awe even the most experienced skaters.



manjulaskitchen
Manjula has been sharing her passion for vegetarian Indian cooking on YouTube since 2006. She includes written recipes with the videos to help beginner cooks, and invites more advanced cooks to add their own twist on her dishes.



If you’re interested in participating or have suggestions for partners you think should be featured, you can nominate a YouTube partner to be considered for the “On The Rise” program. You can also check out some of our Google Hangouts with past featured partners on the Partner Support channel.

Devon Storbeck and Christine Wang, YouTube Partner Support, recently watched “MAKEUP PET PEEVES!”



Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Coachella 2013 - Live on YouTube

Every April, tens of thousands of the world’s most avid music fans flock to Southern California to kick off music festival season at Coachella. This year, you don’t even need a ticket to be a part of the show. 

For the third year in a row, you can catch the entire first weekend live from Indio on Coachella's official YouTube channel. Starting this Friday at 3:30 p.m. PT, YouTube's three-channel feed, which is presented by T-Mobile, will live stream performances from five stages (including, for the first time, the Sahara Tent). You'll be able to catch artists' interviews with and live shows from more than 60 bands, including the xxPassion PitVampire Weekend and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.



So whether you can't stand the desert heat or are just suffering from massive FOMO, be sure to check out the entire Coachella schedule here on YouTube.

Chelsea Maughan, Communications Manager, recently watched "The Postal Service 'Nothing Better.'"



Sunday, March 31, 2013

YouTube Contest Submissions Closing Tomorrow at Midnight

To our incredible YouTube community,

When we started out in 2005, we focused on rapidly increasing user engagement. We wanted an inventive way to draw people in and catalyze their creativity. The result? A contest for the best video on our site.

Nearly eight years later, with 72 hours of video being uploaded every minute, we finally have enough content to close the competition. We’ve started the process to select a winner and as of tomorrow at midnight, we will be closing the site to submissions.

Watch the video below to hear from our leadership, the minds behind some of our most famous entries, and the panel of judges who will select our nominees, and ultimately, the winner for "Best Video."



And be sure to tune in for Day 1 of our live ceremony from 9 a.m. PT, April 1, when we will begin announcing the “Best Video” nominees. This announcement will resume for 12 hours every day for the next two years.

Thank you for sharing your creativity, irreverence, ideas and knowledge with us and with viewers around the world.

Tim Liston, Competition Director, recently watched “Charlie bit my finger- again!”



Wednesday, March 27, 2013

PsychoSoprano is your March featured partner On The Rise

Congratulations to Colleen Ballinger of PsychoSoprano, our featured “On The Rise” partner this March. You can find her videos featured on our YouTube channel today, along with Google+, Facebook, and Twitter.

Hailing from Southern California, Colleen has spent several years growing her YouTube audience and is a successful comedienne. She guarantees that you’ll enjoy a lot of laughs on PsychoSoprano, where she uploads vlogs, skits, character sketches, and “a lot of awkwardness” across two weekly shows. You can tune in for random fun videos every Friday; or, if you have a question for Colleen, you can submit it and check out her Tuesday show, ‘Colleen’s Corner,’ where she takes the time to interact and talk with her audience. In addition to PsychoSoprano, Colleen runs the mirandasings08 channel where she hosts her music content - she’s a professional singer who tours and teaches as well.



Here are a few words from Colleen:

Thank you so much for all of your votes... I am so excited to have been chosen! I try my hardest to keep my subscribers entertained with comedic skits, crazy characters, fun vlogs, singing, and a lot of awkwardness twice a week. I love building relationships with my viewers and want them to feel like my friends and not just my audience so no topics are off limits. You never know what you're gonna find on my channel, but I guarantee you'll smile a lot. :) Thanks again for voting for me! It means more than you know!
If you’ve enjoyed this monthly On The Rise blog series, and want to see more rising YouTube partners, check out our Google Hangouts with past featured partners on the YouTube Creators channel.

You can participate and help us surface YouTube talent by nominating a YouTube partner to be considered for the “On The Rise” program. Feel free to submit nominations for your own channel, or for channels you follow that you think deserve more attention or could be the next YouTube sensation. We’ll continue to feature promising partners who produce engaging content on a regular basis. See you next month!

Christine Wang and Devon Storbeck, YouTube Partner Support, recently watched “Solving three cubes while juggling them.”