Google, France, and a Sacred Link
December 2, 2010
Short honk: Lots of chatter about Google just deciding to pay for content deals. The original approach seems to have been less than optimal. The new method is to write checks. Most folks are chasing the Miramax thread. I found “Google Signs France Artists Deal to Cool Tensions From Copyright Battles” more indicative of the Google Plan B. Will it work? I was tracking Google’s chit chat with Catch Media, a plays-anywhere outfit with some good-as-gold rich media content deals in place. According to the “we write checks in France” insight, I found this passage from the Bloomberg story interesting:
Google, the owner of the world’s largest search engine, is trying to build stronger relationships with regulators and copyright holders in France, where it has attracted scrutiny over its mapping, book-scanning, and advertising systems. Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt this year pledged to build a “European cultural institute” and a research and development center in Paris after meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy. While the YouTube deal won’t produce large amounts of cash for artists in the short term, it re-establishes “the sacred link between the fortune of the work and the fortune of the author,” Laurent Heynemann, president of the 50,000 member SACD group, said at a Paris press conference. “The Internet is not a jungle, and an economic model is possible.
Heads of state: the country of France and the country of Google. And, the best phrase, “sacred link”. I like that elevation to even higher powers than mere heads of state and heads of publicly traded US companies. I keep asking, “How’s that Google TV working out for you?” No one in my office has much of an answer.
Stephen E Arnold, December 2, 2010
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