• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, October 18, 2006

After weeks of posturing about copyright infringement on video-sharing sites, Universal Music Group this week sued two Web companies, Bolt and Grouper, for hosting Universal-owned clips.

Universal's main gripe: Grouper, Bolt and other sites that allow users to upload clips unfairly "build their business on the backs of our content and the hard work of our artists and songwriters."

This statement is preposterous on so many levels, it's hard to know where to start. Does Universal really believe that Bolt and Grouper have built their business on music videos? As opposed to comic shorts? Homemade vacation travelogues? Wedding videos?

Even if some users have uploaded music videos to the sites, how exactly does that hurt Universal? Don't music videos help sell CDs? In fact, isn't that one of the main reasons they're made?

Universal's artist roster includes The Killers, Ludacris, Mariah Carey and U2. If any of them are grousing about video-sharing sites, such complaints haven't yet reached us.

Meanwhile, Universal's actual end-game remains unclear. It could be that, having cut an ad-revenue deal with Google's YouTube, Universal is hoping to force other video-sharing sites out of business so it can hold a near-monopoly on the online distribution of its music videos.

But if this is truly Universal's goal, it's remarkably short-sighted. The company--and certainly its artists--would be better off with the widest possible distribution of music videos. Grouper and Bolt have both said they're eager to negotiate with Universal to cut the record labels in on any profit made off their videos. Universal should be taking them up on that offer, rather than diverting resources with needless litigation.