Everyone's probably heard by now, but Viacom sued YouTube & Parent Google for $1 Billion US today.
While they are claiming "Massive and Pervasive" copyright enfringement, one has to wonder if it isn't really just about:

• Making up for lost ad revenue
• Getting back @ Google for the deal falling through
• An attempt to make their partnership with Joost seem more legitimate
• A frustrated lashing out of old line media at a the fact that they no longer control the distribution of content once it is released
• All of the Above

I'm not sure where I come in at, although I'm pretty skeptical of the whole thing. Even if they do have a leg to stand on under the current US law (which they may or may not,) they are potentially doing more harm than good to their business.
To me this just points again to the complete lack of understanding that big business has of the "new world" created by the Web 2.0 world and consumers use thereof. Those clips are up on YouTube because of dedicated fans... perhaps rather than sue, Viacom should have just quietly asked for an ad revenue cut. So, syndication, but user initiated / driven. Or perhaps they should have cut a deal with Brightcove since their whole model incorporates syndication and user distribution.

Thoughts?