At YouTube, another day, another copyright battle

Video-sharing site YouTube has faced copyright challenges before, and now there's another one gearing up.

YouTube representatives have said that they are in talks with record labels about distributing official music videos online. But it's the long-running trend of unofficial distribution that's got Universal Music Group chief Doug Morris upset. Morris said at a conference this week that sites like YouTube and MySpace "are copyright infringers and owe us tens of millions of dollars," according to an Associated Press report.

According to the AP, a Universal official said the company was prepared to file suit by the end of the month if a settlement was not reached.

Other entertainment sites like NBC have acquiesced to the popularity of video sharing, hoping instead to trade on the increased publicity the videos could bring to their properties. But universal is apparently not ready to go gently into that digital night.

Blog community response:

"I'm not condoning theft, but does anyone think that a video of someone lip synching to a song (recorded with poor quality) is something I want instead of a CD or an iTunes download?"
--Smalltalk Tidbits, Industry Rants

"The smartest thing YouTube could do is just take all of Universal's artists off and watch them scream when suddenly they're not talked about and bought as much as their competitors. These dimwits just don't get it: YouTube and MySpace and blogs and the internet are their new distribution and sales channels. Want to cut off your noses to spite your faces? Fine. Here's the knife."
--Buzz Machine

"We're not sure how, exactly, Morris will deal with these evil infringers--you know, those greedy buggers who were turned on to Fall Out Boy via MySpace and YouTube, and then went on and bought almost 2.5 million copies of their album. Maybe he'll make them work it off--get his coffee, pick up his dry cleaning, walk his dogs, clean his jets with a toothbrush."
--Idolator