Rich Fiscus
16 Jan 2008 23:28
At the beginning of this year Veoh, a web service that offers free streaming video aggregated from other sites, began distributing video from Hulu. Hulu is a service owned by NBC Universal (NBCU)and News Corp. intended to give TV networks and studios a direct outlet to reach viewers with free video offerings. It's currently in private beta testing.
Veoh made headlines shortly after their launch last year when they filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) after allegedly being threatened with legal action by the music giant. Although some question the legality of Veoh's service, as a company spokeswoman told PC Magazine, "we retain the video ads that the content owners have sold so they can continue to monetize their content."
She also stated "We haven't heard anything from Hulu, so I can't comment on their reaction, but we do think that we can be a valuable source of distribution for their high-quality content."
Hulu spokeswoman Christina Lee told the magazine "We encourage the viral distribution of Hulu content in accordance with our terms of use." Although she didn't elaborate on this statement, those terms specifically indicate that the site's content may not be distributed without their permission. Another section specifically states that the service may only be used for non-commercial purposes.