A few years back, I pulled together a network that had the partnership backing of a very large Japanese electronics firm. It was a great deal because, among other things, they wanted things lawyered every which way they could think of … on their nickel.
Being a start-up, me and my partner couldn’t afford to even sit in a law office lobby, so all this caution was welcomed.
One thing that came up was the whole idea of inserting live TV broadcasts inside a digital signage screen zone. The $500/hour opinion from the intellectual property lawyers was that as along as the signal was not compromised (like the adverts replaced or banners overlaid), inserting the video inside a zone was just peachy.
We were talking about this recently, and I was getting differing opinions — suggestions that the signals actually had to be licensed from the broadcasters. That would be costly, and maybe more so, a HUGE pain in the butt.
So I am curious what the experience has been with other industry folks. We’ve not really done live TV here, but I know for some companies in this space it’s a big part of the offer.
What’s been your experience or point of view on this?