• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, October 13, 2006

Google's buyout of YouTube this week continues to rattle the largest media companies. Now, Time Warner head Dick Parsons is flexing his muscle, reminding everyone that YouTube contains clips owned by Time Warner.

"If you let one thing ignore your rights as an owner it makes it much more difficult to defend those rights when the next guy comes along," Parsons told British paper The Guardian.

But, like execs from Universal Music Group, NBC and other companies that once threatened YouTube with copyright infringement lawsuits, Parsons also seems to be conducting negotiations with YouTube via the press. "We'd like to have our content displayed on these platforms, but on a basis that it respects our rights as the owner of that content," he said.

Frankly, it's almost inconceivable that Time Warner's going to sue Google for copyright infringement. For one thing, Google last year purchased a 5 percent stake in Time Warner's AOL for $1 billion. Not even the world's largest media conglomerate is likely to start suing business partners in 10-figure deals.

Even more important, attacking YouTube isn't going to help Time Warner. If anything the clips on YouTube generate interest, ultimately creating more fans that will visit official sites, buy DVDs and watch TV.

Universal came to a deal with YouTube just several weeks after CEO Doug Morris publicly growled about copyright infringement. Parsons now seems to be taking a page from the same book. If history's any guide, Time Warner and YouTube should announce a deal any day now.