• International Herald Tribune, Monday, August 18, 2008 10:15 AM

After years of regarding pirated video on YouTube as a threat, some major media companies are now treating it as an advertising opportunity. CBS, Universal Music, Lionsgate, Electronic Arts and others have stopped trying to remove unauthorized clips of their content and are now selling advertising against them.

Ironically, CBS's sister company, Viacom, is also pursuing a billion-dollar copyright lawsuit against YouTube's owner, Google.

So far, the ads appear on only a fraction of YouTube's videos, but the shift suggests the chilly standoff between YouTube and traditional media is thawing as YouTube struggles to gain revenue from video ads.

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