Win-Win Thinking on YouTube

Mediators often speak of the win-win: parties working together to make the pie larger or construct a settlement or agreement that allows both parties to benefit.  This is often a difficult concept for many people to work, especially in the world of intellectual property.  The IP rights holder wants desperately to control the dissemination of the property, be it a patent, a film or in the case of the current You Tube viral sensation, the Chris Brown song “Forever”.  They believe that they can only maximize profitability by limiting access or usage.

Upon learning that a YouTube video contains non-licensed music, most record labels will contact You Tube and demand that the offending video be removed for infringement.  Chris Brown’s label or his publisher could have easily done so with the wedding video making the rounds.

Instead, they recognized an opportunity when the saw it and included a Click-to-Buy link within the video encouraging users to buy the song on Amazon or iTunes.  As a result,

over a year after its release, Chris Brown’s “Forever” has again rocketed up the charts, reaching as high as #4 on the iTunes singles chart and #3 on Amazon’s best selling MP3 list.

That’s creative win-win thinking.