• Death Cab for Cutie
• Green Day
• Linkin Park
• Madonna
• Metallica
• Led Zeppelin
• T.I.

You can find official music videos for these artists and more all in the Metacafe Music Hub.

Rock on!
The Metacafe Team

• Go to the Toy Story Mash-up Channel.
• Click on the “Create Mash-up” button to get started.
• Create your amazing Toy Story trailer and…
• Submit it!

Submit your mash-up by October 18th for a chance to win a trip to the premiere Toy Story 3! Good luck to everyone!

In celebration of our newly launched Video Games Hub, we are holding a contest this week where you can win free copies of Need for Speed: Shift, Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Guitar Hero 5! The contest starts today, September 22 and ends on Friday, September 25.  US residents only.

The contest is super simple to enter – just follow these simple steps:

1. Follow Metacafe’s Twitter account.
2. Each day, we will tweet out a question about the Video Games Hub.  Send a reply using Twitter with the correct answer  and make sure to tag your answer with #metacafegiveaway. That’s it! You’ll be automatically entered into a drawing for the game we are giving out that day.
3. Check back at the end of each day to see if you’ve won.

A big shout out to the folks at Namco Bandai for hooking us up with free copies of Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny.

Ok, now to the legal terms and conditions you all know and love:

Metacafe Video Game Sweepstakes Official Rules

No Purchase Necessary

Void Where Restricted or Prohibited by Law

____________________________

Thank you for your interest in the Metacafe Video Game Sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”).  The Sweepstakes offers participants an opportunity to win a video game.  By participating in the Sweepstakes you agree to these Official Rules.

Please read these Official Rules carefully before entering the Sweepstakes.

1.  Eligibility. The Sweepstakes is open only to legal residents of the fifty states of the United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry.  Employees of Metacafe, LLC (“Metacafe”) and its respective subsidiaries, affiliates, parent companies, distributors, divisions, agencies and third party fulfillment agencies (the “Sponsors”), as well as the immediate family members (spouse, parents, siblings and children) of those persons, are not eligible to enter the Sweepstakes.  If you have not reached the legal age of majority in your jurisdiction of residence at time of entry, you must have your parent’s or legal guardian’s consent to enter the Sweepstakes. The Sweepstakes are subject to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited by law.

3.  How to Enter. No purchase is necessary to enter the Sweepstakes and making a purchase will not increase your chances of winning.

Each day between September 22, 2009 and September 25, 2009 (the “Submission Period”) Metacafe will tweet a question on Twitter. To enter the Sweepstakes, send a tweet to the Metacafe Twitter account (@Metacafe) with the correct answer to the question by the deadline set forth in the Metacafe tweet. The tweet must be tagged with #metacafegiveaway.  Users are limited to one answer per question.

4.  Winner Selection. Winners will be randomly selected from all of the entries with the correct answer.  You chance of winning depends on the number of times you enter and the total number of entries by all participants.

5.  Prizes. Each winner will receive a video game as described in each daily tweet from Metacafe. The approximate retail value “ARV” of the prize is $60. The ARV of the prize is subject to change based on current market conditions at the time of prize fulfillment. Any difference between the ARV and the actual value, if any, will not be rewarded.  The winner is responsible for any state or federal taxes due as a result of receiving the prize.

6.  Winner Notification. The winners will be notified via Twitter by the end of each day of the contest.  A winner will be disqualified if (a) the winner does not respond within ten (10) business days to the Twitter message sent by Metacafe, (b) he/she is found to be ineligible, (c) he/she cannot or does not comply with these Official Rules, (d) he/she does not return the Affidavit/Release described in Section 7 below, or (e) the prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable.  If the Winner is disqualified, another winner will be randomly selected from the entries.

7.  Affidavit of Eligibility. The potential winner will be required to complete, sign and return to the Sponsors an Affidavit of Eligibility and Release (together, the “Affidavit/Release)” which will include, among other matters reasonably required by Sponsors:

(a) representations regarding your eligibility to participate in the Sweepstakes and your acceptance of and adherence to these Official Rules;

(b) a release of Sponsors’ and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, members, affiliated companies and subsidiaries, from any and all liability, loss, claims, demands, and causes of action for personal injury and/or damage, theft, loss, or any other harm suffered in connection with this Sweepstakes or your redemption of use of the Prize and for any claim based on publicity rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, trademark infringement or any other personal or property rights of any party or any other intellectual property related cause of action, or the use/misuse or acceptance of the Prize;

(c) an attestation that you are of the age of majority in your jurisdiction of residence and that you are at least 18 years of age or, if you are under 18, a signature of your parent or guardian;

(d) permission of the Sponsors to use your name, likeness, image and other attributes for promotional purposes as described in Section 9.

The Affidavit/Release will be sent by email with the winner notification and must be signed by the potential winner and returned to the address indicated by the company within ten (10) the business days following the date on which it was sent, or else the potential winner may be disqualified and an alternate potential winner may be selected.

8.  Integrity of Sweepstakes. Use of any device to automate a vote is prohibited, including but not limited to software-generated, robotic, programmed, script, macro or other automated votes.   The Sponsors reserve the right at their sole discretion to disqualify any individual they suspect or find: (i) to have used a software-generated, robotic, programmed, script, macro or other automated online or text message entry; (ii) to have tampered with the voting process; (iii) to be acting in violation of these Official Rules; or (iv) to be acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person.  Any person attempting to defraud the Sponsors or tamper with this Sweepstakes in any way will not be eligible for the prize and may be prosecuted to the full extent permitted by law.

If, for any reason, any aspect of this Sweepstakes is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical or system failures or disruption, ‘Acts of God’ or terrorist attacks, or any other causes beyond the control of the Sponsors which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Sweepstakes, or if, for any reason, the Sponsors deem it necessary in their reasonable opinion, the Sponsors reserve the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Sweepstakes and/or determine the winner using an alternative method that the Sponsors determine to be appropriate and fair.

9.  Publicity. Except where prohibited by law, a Winner’s acceptance of a Prize constitutes permission for the Sponsors to use such Winner’s name, location (city and state), photo, likeness, biographical information, statement and voice for promotional purposes worldwide and in all forms of media (including posting on any web site), in perpetuity, without further notice or compensation.

10.  Compliance with Rules; Disclaimers; Limitations on Liability of Sweepstakes Sponsors. This Sweepstakes is subject to these Official Rules and all applicable federal, state and local laws (collectively “Rules and Laws”). By entering the Sweepstakes, you agree to all of the following:

1. to be bound by these Rules and Laws, as well as the decisions of the Sponsors, which are final and binding in all respects;
2. to indemnify and hold harmless the Sponsors from any and all liability resulting or arising from your participation in this Sweepstakes and acceptance of any Prize;
3. to release all rights to bring any claim, action or proceedings against the Sponsors; and
4. to waive any right to claim any ambiguity or error in the Official Rules.

The Sponsors are not responsible for and shall not be liable for: (i) difficulty accessing the Internet; (ii) errors in transmission; (iii) service outage or delays or for any problems or technical malfunctions of any telephone network or lines, computer on-line systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of email or players on account of any technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any web site or combination thereof: (iv) injury or damage to you or to any other person’s computer or mobile phone related to or resulting from participating in, or downloading materials or software, or attempts to participate in or download materials or software related to this Sweepstakes or (v) failures or malfunctions of phones (including wireless phones/handsets), phone lines or telephone systems, cellular equipment towers, telephone systems or wireless services or other communications malfunctions.  The Sponsors are not responsible for and shall not be liable for typographical or other errors in the printing, the offering or the administration of the Official Voting Rules or any errors in the announcement of a potential winner.

Participants assume all liability for any injury or damages caused or claimed to be caused by his or her participation in the Sweepstakes or by his or her receipt, use or misuse of any prize and release the Sponsors from any such claim or liability.

11.  Dispute Resolution. Any dispute regarding the Sweepstakes or these Official Rules shall be governed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without regard to any conflict of interest principles.  By entering this Sweepstakes, you agree to waive your right to a trial by jury and you agree instead to submit any dispute to the federal or state courts in Santa Clara County, California.  The prevailing party shall be entitled to actual damages only and shall not be entitled to any consequential damages or attorneys’ fees.

12.  Official Sweepstakes Rules/Winners’ Names. For an additional copy of these Official Rules or the name of the winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Metacafe, Inc., 537 Hamilton Avenue, 94301.  All requests must be received by December 31, 2009. Vermont and Washington residents may omit postage if requesting a set of Official Rules.

• You can now sign in using your Facebook username and password.
• You can link your existing Metacafe account to your Facebook account, making it easier to share videos with your Facebook friends.
• You can share the following videos on your Facebook news feed:
  • Videos you’ve added as a favorite
  • Videos you’ve ranked
  • Videos you’ve submitted
• (Coming soon) You’ll be able to post comments you’ve made to a video.

Setting up Facebook Connect on Metacafe is pretty simple. Once you click on the button, you’ll be greeted with the following screen:

Click on “Connect.” You’ll then be presented with a screen which will allow you to adjust your Facebook Connect settings and link your Facebook account with your Metacafe account. Click on “Done” and you’re all set!  Facebook Connect settings are also found in your Metacafe Account Settings, so you can adjust them if you happen to change your mind down the road.

What do posted Metacafe video look like on Facebook?  Here’s an example – our founder Eyal is connected using Facebook Connect and has just favorited a recent trailer for the game, FEAR 2: Reborn. His Facebook feed will now show the following:

We hope you enjoy the Facebook Connect feature on Metacafe. Let us know what you think in the comments section!

The Metacafe Team

Click here to visit the new Metacafe Video Games hub.

We’ve Got Game
The Video Games hub is the place to catch the latest trailers, reviews, news, and original shows of your favorite games for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and more. Joining us in this launch are IGN and GamePro, two of the top gaming sites in the world, and helping us kick things off is EA’s upcoming racing game, Need for Speed: Shift. Be sure to check out their channels on Metacafe!

In the hub, you’ll be able to browse videos by gaming platform, currently popular games, and also by game title. We also have specific pages for games that are in stores now, coming soon, audience favorites, and much more.

Recommend a Video

Did you come across a great video game video? Let us know about it! Email us at videogames@metacafe.com. We’ll be posting your best recommendations on a regular basis.

• Videos must be at least 15 seconds long, but 2 minutes max.
• Submissions close on August 6th at 11:59 p.m. PT.
• One winner – based on VideoRank – will receive a weekend for 2 in LA
  • $1000 American Airlines gift card
  • Two (2) nights at The Standard Hotel in Hollywood, King room
  • $150 gift card good for redemption at BOA Steakhouse/Sushi Roku/Katana
  • 2 tickets for a show at The Comedy Store
  • $500 cash
• Details and upload at http://www.metacafe.com/funnypeople/. The contest is open only to United States residents.

Once you upload your video, be sure to embed the following widget on your website to promote your entry:

Good luck!

Movie Trailers, featuring theatrical and home video releases from every major Hollywood studio including HD videos.

Music Videos, featuring top artists and up-and-coming acts in Pop, Rock, Metal, Electronic, R&B and Hip Hop

Sports Highlights, featuring a raft of videos from Omnisport.tv, which includes leading European club and International football, ATP tennis, PGA Tour golf and much more.

To read more about the redesign, please see this previous blog post.

Enjoy!

The Metacafe Team

Click here to visit the TV Clips hub

Check out the TV Clips hub to find the latest and most popular clips, interviews, and promos for your favorite and upcoming TV shows. We’ve also included easy navigation to browse by show, and of course, it’s easy to search for your favorite shows at the top of the channel as well. Here’s just a taste of what the hub will offer:

Let us know what you think in the comments below!

Update: Tickets are sold out.

Metacafe is co-sponsoring a Techcrunch screening of the new Star Trek movie in Tel Aviv, Israel. If you happen to be in the city, please join in on the fun at the Blogus Movie Theater in the Azrieli Center this Thursday, the 21st at 7pm. There are 320 seats available – come see this terrific movie with us!

Tickets are $2 to minimize no-shows. You can reserve your ticket online here. Thanks to Techcrunch for organizing!

Metacafe was among the first in the industry to reward independent producers for their online video successes, and we are proud of the fact that we subsidized the program in an effort to help lead the development of the online video industry. While we have worked to maintain the Producer Rewards^® program during the past year, we are now faced with a market environment that requires us to focus on profitability in the near term and are not in the position to continue to subsidize the program.

This has been a difficult decision. We value our independent producers and your work. We sincerely hope you’ll continue to be part of the Metacafe community, and we will continue to work with independent producers to create new opportunities and to realize financial success.

We will provide more details on how the program wind-up will work in the upcoming days and weeks, but here is an overview:

– Videos that are currently part of the Producer Rewards^® program will continue to accrue earnings through June 30, 2009. Payments will be made following the end of each month, consistent with our past payment practices. If the amount of money owed to you as of June 30, 2000 is less than $100, we will nonetheless make payment to you.

– Videos that are currently a part of the Producer Rewards^® program will be removed from the site on July 1, 2009 unless you affirmatively elect to maintain your video(s) on the site on an uncompensated basis and not as part of the Producer Rewards^® program.

­ – If you are a producer who has had videos previously accepted into the program and wish to keep those videos on Metacafe, you must send an e-mail to PRTermination@metacafe.com no later than June 30, 2009. The e-mail should state that you want your videos to remain on Metacafe and needs to include your full name, your Metacafe user name and a link to your Metacafe channel. Your videos will then be transitioned into the Metacafe Producer™ program, which provides recognition that you are the creator of and rights holder to this original work, but they will no longer be eligible for payment.
­
– However, if you wish to remove your Producer Rewards^® videos from the program immediately, please send an email to PRTermination@metacafe.com from the email registered to your Metacafe account stating your user name and that you would like to remove your Producer Rewards^® videos from the website. We will honor these requests within three business days.

– We will no longer be accepting new videos into the Producer Rewards^® program, effective immediately.

­ – If you have submitted a video to be considered for acceptance into the Producer Rewards^® program but have not received an acceptance notification, then your videos will remain on the site but will not become a part of the Producer Rewards^® program. You may remove any video that has not been accepted into the Producer Rewards® program yourself at any time by logging into your account.

Many of you will certainly have questions about this process. Please email us your questions at PRTermination@metacafe.com. While we won’t be able to answer them all individually, we will compile them and will take them into account in our future communications about the process. You can also visit our Producer forums as well.

Thank you again for your participation in the program.

The Metacafe Team