Videos have been a part of American business for decades. Often viewed by executives as harmless vehicles to educate, communicate and document important corporate history, few realize the hidden risks and potential dangers. In the wrong hands, mishandled corporate videos can be radioactive.

Although millions of dollars are spent to produce these videos, once they have been used, they often end up in storage, gathering dust and quickly forgotten. And because videos are often produced by outside production companies, corporations may lose track of the tapes that frequently contain sensitive, confidential and proprietary information.  

Wal-Mart learned firsthand about what can happen when a company loses control of its internal videos. Last April, the Wall Street Journal revealed that Wal-Mart did not own the rights to a 30-year archive of its videotapes. After negotiations to buy the tapes from its former video production company, which did own the rights, broke down, the production company began leaking the confidential and potentially damaging video clips to the internet and the media.

Wal-Mart is not alone, however. A video of former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling mocking the company's accounting methods helped put him in jail. And in another court case, video of Merck sales representatives being trained to counter doctors' concerns about Vioxx's heart risks as "obstacles" was used to damage the pharmaceutical giant.

Companies that produce their own videos are just as vulnerable to being victimized when their private material is made public. A leading consumer products company found some confidential videos on YouTube after an intern in the corporate communications department posted presentations given to employees by a senior executive online. His internship was short-lived.  

Few companies understand that corporate videos, like internal e-mails, phone records and voicemails, are business records. They must be cataloged, protected and maintained in compliance with regulatory, legal and company records management policies. Typically, videos end up in storage and employees have no knowledge of what the tapes contain. Equipment needed to play older videotape formats is obsolete and difficult to find.  Finding employees with the knowledge or the time to manage videotapes is nearly impossible.  

Another problem is preserving aging videos. Videotape begins to deteriorate in as little as 15 years, putting priceless history in danger of fading to black. Once this material is lost, it is gone forever. Many companies have no idea of the value of tapes they have put in storage. In fact, a leading health products company recently found that they had priceless film of their founders from the 1920s hiding in a dusty film canister.

Organizing and digitizing corporate videos is the best way to mitigate these risks. A good digital migration program should include a complete inventory and evaluation of all videotapes; the transfer of all information from each tape into a fully searchable database; and the digitizing of videotape into the highest quality file formats to protect against deterioration.

Once videotape is transferred to digital files, it can be shared throughout a company or organization. Video can be e-mailed, used in presentations, uploaded to websites, and distributed to the media and employees, regardless of their locations.

Because there are so many different digital file formats, choosing the right type of digital format is an important decision. Many experts recommend creating uncompressed video files to preserve all the information that was on the original videotape. Then it is easy to create files in any different format for many uses. As with any type of digital material, it is important to make a copy and keep it in a safe place.

Failing to effectively manage video assets is a risk few companies can afford. In today's demanding business environment, every asset has value and every risk must be mitigated. In short, video asset management is no longer a luxury.

Betsy Rich is co-founder and principal of Blue Horse Digital and has over 30 years of experience in television news and corporate video production with a variety of organizations, including ABC News and Reuters. For her efforts, she has been honored by Women in Communications and received Emmy and Monitor awards.