Is Creative Commons For You? – PodcastingTricks.com

Many podcasters and bloggers have decided to use the Creative Commons License to protect their work. This is different from the U.S. Copyright Act. It doesn’t provide the same legal protections and in fact, no major court has yet upheld any part of Creative Commons in a dispute relating to blogging or podcasting.

So why do so many podcasters use CC? I don’t know. I can only guess that it’s a case of follow the leader. But you should be aware of the differences between U.S. Copyright laws and the CC.

If someone distributes, alters, sells or makes a copy of your podcast, for profit or not, under the U.S. Copyright Act, you have certain protections. If you register your show with the U.S. Copyright Office, and someone violates your copyrights, you may be entitled to money damages.

The majority of “experts” talking about this subject on the Internet aren’t lawyers. And neither am I. But I did talk with several lawyers about this and I think the podcasting community might be in for a rude awakening once the popularity of podcasts starts to attract big business and those who are not so ethical that follow.

The riff I read all the time on the web is that the U.S. Copyright Act offers the standard “All Rights Reserved” approach while CC offers “Some Rights Reserved.” The fact is, there’s more to it than that. The U.S. Copyright Act provides a list of exclusive rights to the podcaster and ONLY the podcaster has the right to sell or grant these rights. And if someone violates Copyrights, the U.S. Federal District Court has jurisdiction and there is an easy, well-known path to enforcement. Copyright attorneys regularly accept copyright cases on a contingency basis which means you don’t pay them unless they win.

In th case of CC, the rights protected may vary. And the license itself isn’t even a legal or binding contract in some jurisdictions. The biggest problem with CC is that there is no simple path to enforcement. That means, if someone violates your rights under a CC license, you’ll most likely have to sue them in a local court, where they do business or reside and you’ll have to pay all legal fees. Also, since there’s little or no precident for courts to follow, it could be years before we even know if the CC license can be enforced in a way that makes economic sense.

The goal of CC is to make information more freely available. And I think that’s a good goal. But if you are trying to make a living from your podcast as I am, beware. CC may not offer the protections you think it does.

NOTES: If you are a non-U.S. resident, the U.S. Copyright Act may still apply to you through various treaties such as the Berne Convention.

While her work is aimed at photographers, almost all of the information found at Carolyn Wright’s excellent PhotoAttorney website regarding Copyright would be applicable to podcasters. It’s a great resource worthy of your attention if you’re interested in this subject.

Recording Phone Calls – PodcastingTricks.com

I’ve been getting lots of calls and emails lately about recording phone calls for podcasting. A while back, I posted a link to an article on how to record using Skype. But if you want to do it like the big boys do, you need a telephone hybrid.

I use the Telos One. It’s around $600 and probably out of reach for most podcasters, but if you want to go Cadillac, you have to pay the money.

Most major market radio stations use this product because it delivers reasonably good sound. Keep in mind that it’s very difficult to get perfect phone audio, but the Telos One can come close. There are variables like the quality of your phone line, the quality of the caller’s phone line and even the quality of the caller’s phone handset comes into play. But the Telos will get you the best results you can get short of a dedicated ISDN line.

You hook this unit to your mixer and route the caller audio and your audio in such a way that the caller can hear you talking over your mic and you can hear them talking over your headphones. You put the mixed signal to your computer interface and record into GarageBand, ProTools, Logic or whatever your favorite recording software might be, and then you treat the track as you would any other. Apply EQ and any other audio post-processing you need and away you go.

In a future post, I’ll provide a routing diagram that shows how to hook the Telos One to a simple mixer and document the signal flow.

Musicbed DV – PodcastingTricks.com

NOTE: Cross Posted At O’Reilly Digital Media 

Most podcasters use music in their show in one way or another. And you can’t legally use mainstream music in your show unless you’ve paid to license it or unless it’s royalty free or otherwise “podsafe.”

Many producers turn to “clip music” for use in podcasts. Like clip art, this is generic music that can be used by pretty much anyone.

With the advent of Apple’s GarageBand, podcasters and others could easily make their own music. And it works well. The problem with GarageBand is that everyone who has a Mac also has GarageBand. Accordingly, the music starts to sound the same in every podcast.

So if you’re a Mac user who wants to set your show apart, you need to explore other alternatives. One such alternative is a program called Musicbed DV from Synk Audio. It’s an OSX application that allows you to browse music clips much the way you would browse Apple Loops. But there are some major differences. For starters, this program was originally designed for use in video, but the company realized that podcasters were a growing market and wisely offered this technology to a wider audience. And since the software was developed to help video and film producers score their projects, the feel of MusicbedDV is much different than Garageband. And ultimately, if you’re looking for a new sound, that’s a good thing.

I have been playing with the program for several weeks now and really like it. Instead of using individual loops to construct music, you use stock beds that you can modify by changing several parameters.

I have been experimenting with using the program to create intros and outros. You can adjust timing, mood, texture, builds and accents.

One of the most interesting features of Musicbed DV is the ability to change the intensity of the music. Whereas you would need to employ Garageband’s ducking feature to do a voiceover on top of most Garageband loops, in Musicbed DV, you simply change the intensity and mood of the music by drawing a curve and the music responds. It’s easy to set impact points where the musical dynamics need to change.

Some other nice Musicbed DV features include the ability to make beds that are virtually any length without comprimise. You can also make adjustments to pitch and tempo independently.

I have few complaints with Musicbed DV but there are a couple. The selection of stock clips is limited and unlike GarageBand where you can add music from multiple sources via Apple Loops, Musicbed DV appears to only be expandable in the event that its maker, Synk Audio plans to add additional stock music. A company spokesperson confirmed additional music is coming soon, but as of today, there’s only the original stock pieces to work with. Synk Audio also said there are plans to make the Synk Music production tools available to other music producers. When and if this happens, Musicbed DV will be considerably more valuable.

I’d also be more enthusiastic about Musicbed DV if it were optimized to run on a Mac Intel machines. Once again the company says they are testing a Universal Binary version in-house so it should be out soon. And lastly, there’s the price. At $199, MusicbedDV is certainly not outrageous, but it is on the high side. I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. Video people are used to working with big budgets and to them, $199 is nothing. But podcasters are typically operating on a shoe string and since GarageBand is free with every Mac, forking over the additional $199 for Musicbed DV won’t be easy for some.

And finally, this is not a complaint so much as something to note: The learning curve is a bit steeper on Musicbed DV than Garageband only because the methods used to build the final beds are so different from anything else out there. But that can also be a good thing because it encourages experimentation.

Overall, I found Musicbed DV to be a great tool for building podcast music. It could be used for any type of media production. And if you want to stand out in a crowded field of podcasters, this is probably a pretty good way to do it. On a scale of one to ten, I’d rate Musicbed DV a solid eight. Once the UB version ships and new music becomes available, I’ll up that to a nine out of ten.

More On Closed Captioning – PodcastingTricks.com

A while ago I talked about closed captioning and transcribing podcasts and invited feedback. Here’s one e-mail (slightly edited for length and clarity) that I received which my readers may find helpful…

—

“If you know of any tried and true captioning options that are less expensive or otherwise unique, send me an e-mail to info@podcastingtricks.com and if I think they’re interesting or inexpensive enough I will note them in a future post.”

Hello,

I am Israel Melendez and I produce what appears to be the only closed-captioned video podcast. This is not an easy thing to implement. I am referring to closed captions since open captions are on-screen subtitles that are always present.

I decided to caption my podcast to reach a larger audience since it is narrated in Spanish. It is working out fine. I have discovered there is an immense audience looking for captioned material: the hearing impaired.

Like I mentioned, captioning requires a lot of work. For example, in my last episode (15 minutes long), it took me eight hours to translate and code captions in it. Not everybody can spare eight hours for a hobby. Captioning software is very limited and most programs are outdated.

It all began with an earlier version of QuickTime that allowed the addition of text tracks. It got people interested and you can still find old web-based captioned programs. When I started my podcast, a friend suggested I do it in English, but since English is a second language to me, I decided captioning was a better alternative. Since there are plenty of technology shows in English, I wanted to address the Spanish speaking “tecnocatos” (tech-addicts).

I currently use Textation for Mac. Although it needs an upgrade, it is the best I have found. It has not been upgraded for some time… maybe if captioning gets popular again, some will come up with better solutions. I also used LiveStage to create a QuickTime sprite that turns the captions on and off. Anybody with a copy of QuickTime Pro can extract the sprite and use it with their own creations. Mine is “beta” but works.

I invite you to check out my podcast at:

http://www.tecnocato.com

Sincerely,

Israel Meléndez

tecnocato video podcast (CC)

—

My sincere thanks go to Israel for sending this e-mail. Considering the amount of feedback I received about this issue, I think it deserves additonal coverage.

You Can Opt Out Of Podshow – PodcastingTricks.com

In case you haven’t heard, MTV VJ Adam Curry founded a company called Podshow, a company that among other things, runs a much-hyped podcasting directory. It created a lot of buzz when it received venture funding earlier this year.
Podshow got off to a rocky start when rumors began to circulate on the Internet about the company’s practice of “hijacking feeds.” This means that Podshow was changing the feeds of podcasters in such a way that the original content was modified without the podcaster’s permission.

Podshow claimed it was all a mistake.

I went to their site and realized that there is a trade off to being listed in their directory. They run lots of ads around the podcasting content they present, whether they own the show involved or not. In fact, it’s hard to tell a Podshow podcast from a non-podshow podcast.
After the hijacking incident and my realization that my show could be used to make them money, I contacted Podshow and advised them that use of my intellectual property without my permission was prosecutable under the US Copyright Act. They took my shows off their network (about two weeks later.)

So the moral of the story is this. You don’t have to let Podshow or any directory present your podcast if you don’t want them to. You can opt out. That doesn’t mean you have to or even should. Many podcasters will no doubt benefit from a Podshow relationship. I have no intention of forming any judgment at this time as to the motives of the company. I cast no aspersions on them. I simply don’t want them to make money off my podcast without sharing it with me.

This is something podcasters need to pay attention to. When you submit your podcast to ANY podcast directory, be sure to see how it’s presented, check to see that your original content is protected and then decide if the exposure the directory offers is worth the trade off.

Noise Problems – PodcastingTricks.com

NOTE: Cross posted at O’Reilly Digital Media

I get lots of email from new podcasters. And without question, one of the main complaints I hear relates to noise. People using small digital field recorders to record their podcasts seem to have particular problems with noise.

In most cases, these are simple environmental noise problems like unbalanced AC power sources, air conditioners, fans, fluorescent lights and other environmental factors that can ruin your recordings. The fix is usually simple.

Try to use balanced AC or use power conditioners. Make sure that you don’t locate your recorder near an AC power source, fluorescent lights or mobile phones during recording.

Turn off any electrical item in the room that you don’t need. Turn off fans and air conditioners.

Make sure you have good clean cables and that they are properly inserted. Don’t cross instrument or mic cables and power cables.

These are very basic responses to a basic problem. Give them a try first before you go to extreme measures that involve spending money.

And by the way, if you want a more detailed look at this, go to “Seven Steps to Noise-Free Digital Audio.“

Podcasting Stats & The Echo Chamber – PodcastingTricks.com

A few days ago, Nielsen released a report that said more than nine million people had listened to podcasts. It also made references to blogging, Apple and portable media. While there’s no doubt that the report has some merit, I’ve decided to write this post about another interesting (potentially troubling) aspect of this situation.

Due to the success of RSS, there’s a mini echo chamber in the podcasting world. (To be fair this echo chamber exists everywhere else too.) When a story that’s potentially interesting or favorable to podcasters gets published, lots of blogs and media outlets rush to publish it, most not doing their own research or reporting. Instead they just link to the story, copy it or paraphrase it and call it good.

But therein lies the problem. In this case, parts of the story were flawed (the press people at Neilsen have confirmed this) and even though the story was partly wrong, bloggers, podcasters and related pundits ran with it.

I will admit to some self satisfaction in having not run down that road here. I read the press release, saw the flaws and decided not to run it. I also admit that part of the reason I didn’t go with the story is that I don’t really trust the big research firms like Forrester and Nielsen when it comes to podcasting stats. After all, these are the same organizations that went out of their way to downplay the web back in the mid-90s. That whole “the web is a fad” thing didn’t work out too well for them.

So what’s the point of my rambling diatribe? Be careful when you’re linking to, reporting from or otherwise including information about podcasting from secondary sources. These sources may not be all that smart when it comes to understanding the new world of podcasting, blogging, RSS and the like.

Also, use the stats these firms provide, but do your own research. Look at empirical data like the numbers from Feedburner and Libsyn and balance those against numbers provided by the big media research companies that may be interested in protecting their relationships with existing clients, i.e., TV, radio, etc.

Make phone calls, send e-mails and ask questions. If you’re in a position where you need to provide statistics on podcasting for your boss or your show’s media kit, you don’t want to make the mistake of including bogus information.