Viacom Sues YouTube
There's got to be some way to come to an agreement on this. The problem is that Viacom and other companies like it are having trouble adjusting to new trends and technologies. They can't stop it forever. This is a battle they cannot win. They're just going to have to eventually give up and join them, because they can't beat them.Simmering tensions exploded into all-out war Tuesday between the world's biggest Internet company and the traditional media conglom that's feeling the most pain from the Net.
Viacom's decision to sue YouTube and its corporate parent Google for $1 billion reflects MTV Networks' vulnerable position as it loses young viewers to the Internet and raises major questions about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the law that governs online piracy.
Ironically, Viacom's MTV2 was the first network to formally use YouTube for promotion early last year. But by the fall the conglom asked YouTube to take down several thousand long clips, and last month it ordered the site to remove more than 100,000 pirated videos after talks about a revenue-sharing pact broke down.
The new software that has been developed to detect copywrighted material should be used, and ad revenue from the page it is posted on sent to the copywright holder.
That may be an oversimplification because I'm not an expert on business dealings, but it makes sense.
The billion dollar lawsuit is the "jump the shark" move on Viacom's part, because they are fighting against the popular will, they very customers they depend on for revenue.
And in cases like this, the popular will, and progress, always win.
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