• The Guardian, Monday, October 16, 2006 11:30 AM

Add Time Warner to the list of media companies that could bring legal action against Google, now that the search giant has acquired YouTube. Time Warner, whose media properties include Warner Brothers and HBO, is one of several major content producers whose material is uploaded illegally every day on the viral video site.

Dick Parsons, the company's CEO, says: "You can assume we're in negotiations with YouTube and that those negotiations will be kicked up to the Google level in the hope that we can get to some acceptable position. ... 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 added that Time Warner wants to have its content distributed on the Web, but in a way that respects the company's rights as a content owner.

His stance mirrors that of several major media CEOs, but YouTube and Google are moving swiftly to secure major content owners in their corner, too. Just this week, YouTube added Sony BMG, Universal Music Group--which had previously threatened the site--and CBS Corp. as content partners. Ironically, Warner Music Group, formerly the music arm of Time Warner, was one of YouTube's first content partners. Parsons noted that Time Warner, like many media companies, looked into acquiring YouTube, but that Google was ultimately the "best buyer" because it has the best technology to monetize its traffic. "Whether they overpaid or not, time will tell," he added.

Read the whole story at The Guardian »