We at CBO produce original programming for TV shows, mini-series, and

We at CBO produce original programming for TV shows, mini-series, and movies. We sell contracts to television conglomerate networks for the exclusive right to broadcast our programming and sell them via DVDs. For this right, the television networks pay CBO substantial fees that help finance CBO expenses and fund future CBO programming projects.

For members of the media, we provide kits complete with information on the actors / actresses in our shows, story plots, list of reviews, video clips and images. Now, however, some internet companies, through user generated content have not just a collection of video clips and digital photographs of our media programming throughout their site, but also full length versions of our movies and TV shows. Some of these users pirate our content and make it available for free via online video streaming just hours after initial release - this directly affects our DVD sales. Conditions must be placed on these practices, which go beyond basic media exposure; they harm the value of our contracts with television conglomerate networks and violate our rights as owners of the entertainment content. Video-based internet companies that wish to post such content on their websites should therefore sign contracts with the programming company that stipulate what content will be allowed and how much it will cost. As we have in the past, we will legally pursue internet video-based companies and push to have them shut down.

The entertainment media business is quickly shifting from offline (theaters, TV, DVDs) to on-demand online streaming, where viewers expect media content to be available at their fingertips and available to everyone - a democratic notion. The internet is a democracy and users exercise their Bill of Rights through freedom of expression and open access for the information they share online. This includes links that are shared online that help users find sources for entertainment content that may or may not be illegally hosted on other web servers. The nature of sharing these links is constitutionally protected. To place unnecessary conditions on what links can and cannot be shared is to deny the average user his right to freedom of expression and right to a fair democracy.

Much of the video content online is original and it is difficult to pinpoint which ones have content that legally belongs to the programming companies - as unlike text, the video content is not easily searchable and identifiable. Further, a website is not liable for the nature of the links shared on its site - the legal nature of where the links on its site point to is out of that website's control. Online video sites are not asking for programming content to be available in their entirety freely across the web. Online video sites recognize that pirated versions of programming content can translate into poor experiences for viewers and devalue the content. But on the contrary -- free, on-demand video content of quality programming has, for the most part, generated mroe interest in many programs, its actors and actresses, artists and entertainers, and thus benefits internet users and programming companies alike. Making videos, in any time frame, accessible on the internet for the average internet user is a moral constitutional imperative and we must not forgo this great service that online video websites have created.