Ottawa-based overlay.tv launched today with something that I think is pretty interesting and unique–letting users annotate and add to videos.

The idea is pretty simple (after you create an account) you find a video like on YouTube and put the URL into Overlay and then you, well, overlay stuff onto it.

Yeah I had a hard time grasping it too just reading it so here is there YouTube video (how they got the 70’s look I don’t think I want to know):

Okay you should have the idea now.  Once you create the overlay video, you then publish it and share it like any other video.

Here’s the interesting bit, besides getting to put goofy stuff on videos, is that you can embed ads into the videos (like for the song or album) and that becomes a revenue share.

Of course you don’t have to do that, like this rather risque (but very funny) one:

I tried to do an overlay, but I couldn’t get the add for the album to stick in.  Which, could be either a beta issue or PBKAC.  Which makes me wonder about user uptake.  Yes, it’s cool.  Yes it will be fun to goof around for a while.  However the real game-changing part of this is whether can use this to, say, show their favourite songs and earn money from people buying them on iTunes or Amazon.

I’m not so concerned about copyright because it’s very clear that it’s a derivative work and you could just as easily embed the video and surround it with ads on your site.  Will it be annoying to visitors? Another good question.  That will have to be a time will tell thing.  My gut feeling is that the technology is cool, but this application of it won’t last.

Other folks have covered it as well: NewTeeVee, Mathew Ingram, Mashable, and MyMediaMusings, but I’d like to know what you think of the service and the videos.  This one seems a tad large so I wish the player was smaller.

Beta services like this don’t just need us to write about them, they need feedback and users to kick the tires.  Heck they need you to try to kick the tires, hood, bumpers … try to break the thing.  If we don’t push it, if we just say “hey this looks cool” we can’t expect anything to get better or improve.  So, let’s have at it!

Post from: EveryJoe

Overlay.tv lets you add to videos and earn a little cash too