Dave Haynes

Someone passed me the link to this really great wedding video. On the surface it’s pretty dumb (like a lot of YouTube videos). But I think there’s a deeper, underlying point to be made here.

It struck me in particular as I’m currently reading Larry Lessig’s “Remix” book in which he talks about the value of ‘Read/Write’ culture. ie. the culture of adding to, participating in and remixing. The couple at this wedding have effectively created their own video for this track. And it’s captured enough people’s imaginations to get 12m+ views.

Maybe I’m overstating this, but this video is a really good example of Read/Write culture, especially in terms of the value it has added for the rightsholder of the music in the video (in this case Sony Music). Instead of issuing takedowns and/or suing the people for not having the rights to use the music (which is what some labels would do), Sony have used YouTube’s content management tools to claim the song and overlay a click-to-buy ad on the video. Apparently the track is also now quickly moving up the download charts.

There are probably better examples. But if you’re a rightsholder, just stop for a moment and think about what value you could create by giving up some control, embracing the power of the web and the read/write culture that it empowers.