South Africa: Podcasting Is Taking Off

Podcasting in South Africa is set to receive a great deal of exposure over the next few weeks with the launch of a new podcasting competition, iPodcasting Competetion. Uploads to the iPodcasting Competition start on March 19, 2007. The competition does seem rather tempting:

Got something to say? Think you’re the next big thing? Broadcast yourself or cast a vote for your favourite podcast and you could win a share of the more than R250 000 in prizes up for grabs, courtesy of Apple, 5FM, Coca-Cola and MINI.

iPodcasting Legal Concerns

Peter Hart-Davis and Mike Stopforth have expressed their concern regarding the terms and conditions of the competition.

Mike Stopforth in “SA Podcasting Gets A Boost”:

R 250 000 will attract a lot of attention. This is good news. However, before diving head first into the competition take note of this:

Please view our TERMS AND CONDITIONS for important contest information, including the contest categories and technical specifications for your podcasts.

He concludes:

Now what I know about the legal stuff is dangerous, but this is discouraging me from participating – Paul, could you help us understand what all this means?

Don’t want to be negative about it – this is a nice initiative from some very cool brands. However, remember the value of your own hard work and intellectual property.

Peter Hart-Davis left this comment at Cherryflava:

Hmmm is it just me or does this from the rules strike one as a tad draconian?

(b) each winner, by acceptance of prize, except where legally prohibited, grant permission, in perpetuity, for Sponsor and those acting pursuant to Sponsor’s authority to use his/her name, photograph, voice and/or likeness, and videos, recordings, prize information, and Entry Materials (and notwithstanding anything to the contrary in these Official Rules license the use of the Entry Materials which may be altered, changed, modified, edited, used alone, together or with other works, and/or used in distorted, illusory or composite form, as solely determined by Sponsor) for advertising, trade and promotional purposes without further compensation, at any times or time, in all media now known or hereafter discovered world wide and on the Internet without notice or review or approval. All Entry Materials will be deemed a work made for hire under the copyright laws of South Africa, but if it cannot be so deemed, then each individual irrevocably sells, assigns and transfers to Sponsor all of his/her right, title and interest in and to his/her Entry Materials, including but not limited to all copyright and trademark rights, in South Africa and worldwide, therein, for valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged.

Paul Jacobson of chilibean translated the legal jargon into simple and understandable English:

The first part of these clauses seem ok but it gets worse as you near the end of it. Here is a summary of what these clauses say:

  • the content you submit is your own stuff and it doesn't violate someone else's rights (including copyright and trademarks);
  • your content is not licensed to anyone else;
  • you have to play nice so no name calling or saying nasty things about people;
  • you can't talk about anyone except yourself; and (here is the clincher)
  • if you accept a prize you give up your content to the Sponsor (Apple IMC Southern Africa, MINI SA, Coca-Cola South Africa (Pty) Ltd or 5FM) forever and they can do whatever they want with it, chew it up and spit it out.

Justin Hartman however was very pleased to see that Apple retail stores will be running free podcasting sessions:

Not only are these big companies promoting the idea of podcasting but they’re helping people in creating the content as well. Every day, Apple retail locations will be running free podcasting sessions at 12:30pm and 5:30pm for an hour from Monday to Saturday. You can use Apple’s equipment, Internet connection and their expertise totally free of charge!

Potgooi?
Potgooi is the Afrikaans term for podcast. There are a number of Afrikaans podcasts in South Africa and abroad. Potgooi.com and Potgooi.net list a few Afrikaans podcasts. Some notable Afrikaans podcasts are Afrikaans in Sydney by Phil Massyn and Potgooi.nl by Machiel and Charlene in the Netherlands.

Podcasts Keeping South Africans Informed
There are a number of formal and informal podcasts in South Africa and the majority of them are to keep people informed. Podcasts from the likes of Mail & Guardian and Moneyweb are two examples of many of the formal podcasts in South Africa. The ZA Show is more of an informal podcast with a personal touch by Glen and Bridgitte Verran who cover a variety of topics with regards to South Africa.

Another notable podcast which is still relatively new and attracting subscribers at a steady rate is Amplitude. The best and worst of South African marketing is discussed by Dave Duarte and Mike Stopforth in Amplitude.

For a list of more South African podcasts visit: Podcast SA.

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