Sweet Social Media Success Story (with a bitter aftertaste)

Unless you've been living in a cave - or just don't pay attention to internet hype - you will be familiar with the story of Ted Williams, the Golden-Voiced Homeless Man, and the amazing events of the past week.

A video demonstrating Ted's golden radio voice as he panhandled beside a highway, and the subsequent interview in which he explained how he was trying to get his life back together after falling foul of drugs and alcohol, inspired millions. In under 48 hours the video had attracted over 10 million views and job offers started rolling in for Ted with the NFL's Cleveland Cavaliers and Kraft Foods leading the charge. A wonderful story that shows the internet at its best.

So where is this bitter aftertaste I mentioned? Well, the amazing video which was being shared around the world as people sought to share Ted's inspirational tale, had been removed from YouTube due to copyright infringement.

To me this is the internet at its worst. While people around the world find themselves touched by one man's story (and the beautiful voice he tells it with), and companies fall over themselves to be a part of Ted's journey back from the bottom, there is a copyright claim that sours the whole situation.

I'm not a big believer in the sanctity of copyright, as long as someone isn't trying to pass another's work off as their own I think there's not much harm. Why was the copyright owner not happy to have their ownership acknowledged and leave the video available for the world to share? It will make no difference to Ted, he has already benefitted from the power of the web, it is those who didn't get a chance to see the video that started it all that lose out.

Luckily their are plenty of copies floating about for them to check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6kI_u3ho_c&feature=youtube_gdata_player

(Sadly it is almost impossible to find a copy of the original video anymore)