Yahoo has been indicating a big shift towards original video content for awhile, and now we might see the launch of its own video network as early as this summer.
AdAge reports today that Yahoo is finalizing deals with several content creators, luring them away from YouTube with promises of larger ad revenue shares. As an added carrot, content creators will get their own publishing dashboard that allows them to distribute their video across multiple Yahoo properties, including the coveted Yahoo home page, Yahoo verticals and Tumblr.
However, all isn’t rosy when it comes to getting creators to go over to the Yahoo side. AdAge reports:
Yahoo has also run into a series of setbacks during contract negotiations.
One point of contention centered on content ownership. In contracts presented to creators, Yahoo stipulated that Yahoo would be given a perpetual license to any videos that were shared to Tumblr. That would effectively transfer a video’s ownership rights to Yahoo.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my life, and I’m assuming they’re going to strike that [from the final contracts],” said one producer whose contract talks with Yahoo have gone through more than a few revisions. “Anyone who’s done a content deal knows that would never fly.”
While Yahoo may still have to figure out a way to get independent creators on board, it is already well on its way to collecting an impressive stable of big name content producers, especially in the news category. It already signed up famed news anchor Katy Couric and the New York Times’ David Pogue on its roster of news content producers. In addition, it’s signed exclusive deals to show clips from Saturday Night Live as well as its original comedy series Burning Love.
