Viacom’s Hollywood studios, which include Paramount and Lionsgate, are gonna give that Internet thing another go. Since its contract with Showtime ended, Viacom wants to explore new ways to distribute pay TV (Showtime, HBO, etc.), and is looking to create a new online service to do just that. Said Viacom’s chief executive, “We want it to be available for consumers any way they want it.” Pretty sure consumers want “it” DRM-free and for a reasonable price, so we’ll see how that goes. Or maybe they’ll go the Hulu route, which I’ve actually heard my tech illiterate friends mention. I was truly shocked.

Don’t expect other studios to join in on the fun, however, as their pay TV contracts aren’t up for some time yet.

It’s no secret and no surprise that Rock Band is selling quite well. The game is one of the most fun multiplayers around and is on both major gaming platforms and will hit the Wii soon. The talk of the Web today, though, is the $208.7 million payout Viacom has ready for Harmonix, the Rock Band developer.

This is a performance-based earnout, as Viacom’s MTV bought Harmonix in 2006, so the money would go to Harmonix shareholders.

This is great news for Harmonix as well as Rock Band fans; this means the promised updates are sure to materialize, which is going to be the key moneymaker for this game.

Harmonix Earns Possible $208.7 Million Bonus From Viacom [Gamasutra]

HD DVD’s booth at CES was a sad, sad sight to see. You could tell by the demeanor of everyone working the booth. They knew. Blu-ray’s booth was less than 20 yards away and they were rocking out and people were milling around trying to watch demos, take pictures with Captain Jack Sparrow and the Spartans from 300. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in HD DVD’s camp, but how are they going to recover from Warner Bros. departure?

The Financial Times is reporting that Paramount has a purported clause in their contract that allows them to switch sides in the event Warner Bros. backs out of HD DVD. Why the two studios have anything to do with each other is beyond me, but that’s what ‘people familiar with the situation’ are claiming. Biggs says it’s not over because Samsung is still producing dual format players and apparently they have more say in the situation then one is to believe, but we’ll wait and see what Paramount does.

Paramount in HD DVD blow [FT]

Viacom sues YouTube for 1 billion, writers get 75 cents a word. Viacom estimates downloadable content is worth $500 million and writers get bad coffee. There’s the bottom line. Hopefully this strike destroys the media conglomerates and a new, communal writing system takes root and flourishes in the wasteland of dead media, but it won’t. We’ll just have to wait longer for Lost to roll back around. Besides, they should just go online where all of us are rich as lords.

via BB

With the debate over copyright between YouTube and Viacom heating up, the online video site is hoping that some of its biggest stars will help them out in the debate over fair use of TV clips. YouTube intends to question Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on what they think about Viacom’s decision to sue YouTube. The company needs 30 depositions from people to keep the legal battle going strong.

Burn the DMCA, re-write it, and stop taking away the right for me to watch clips like this.

YouTube wants to question Jon Stewart [AP]

Nobody likes piracy. Well, we do, sure, but content providers aren’t as cool with it as we are. Enter PodZinger, a start-up whose main widget—true video search—could finally save YouTube and the like from constantly being sued by the Viacoms of the world for copyright violations. With its video search technology, users are able to pinpoint, with a 70 percent accuracy so far, exact conversations in video. Looking for the scene where George and Jerry discuss growing up and changing their lives for the better? Simple search for a relevant keyword—here, “we’re not men”—and the video pops up. Neat-o.
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After Viacom sued YouTube/Google for 1 billion bucks, we all thought Google would be really screwed. Well apparently the tech-giant isn’t worrying much, saying that the DMCA justifies its actions and it’s not liable for jack. Sez Alexander Macgillivray from Google’s legal mumbojumbo department:

“Here there is a law which is specifically designed to give Web hosts such as us, or… bloggers or people that provide photo-album hosting online … the ’safe harbor’ we need in order to be able to do hosting online,”
“We will never launch a product or acquire a company unless we are completely satisfied with its legal basis for operating,”

Google feels like it’s completely in the right this time around and that Viacom is just being a sourpuss. Google has won similar cases in the past, but Viacom is a media monster that has the power to keep this thing in court as long as it takes. So next time you want your MTV, you’d better be willing to give up your Google Video for it.

Google confident digital liability law protects it [Reuters]

When Viacom announced that it was going to sue YouTube and Google, plenty of folks on the Web did that whole, “you’ll never beat YouTube, YouTube forever, etc” schtick. Turns out these silly geese may have a point.
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Viacom, owner of fine media outlets like MTV and Comedy Central, will sue Google and YouTube for $1 billion for failing to prevent “massive intentional copyright infringement.” (Can Google counter-sue Viacom for producing base drivel?) Viacom isn’t happy that Google hasn’t taken “proactive” steps to prevent the unauthorized use of its content. Never mind that it already demanded that Google remove more than 100,000 videos last month.

Google still hasn’t responded to the suit. Maybe they should offer a video response like this winner? Slippery slope!

Viacom to sue Google and YouTube [BBC News]

You may remember that last week, Viacom demanded that YouTube pull 100,000 copyrighted videos own that belonged to the media giant. Turns out, it wasn’t just because some guy uploaded an old Hall & Oates video, rather Viacom has decided to go with Joost instead.

That’s right: Joost users will be able to enjoy programming from networks like MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon thanks to a new deal in the works between Joost and Viacom. Now if everyone plays their cards right, Joost could very well end up being a YouTube killer.

Viacom lands video deal with Joost

If you’re trying to find that old Jermaine Stewart video of “We don’t have to take our clothes off (to have a good time)” from 1986 on YouTube, you better do it soon. Music videos from MTV, BET and other clips could soon disappear from the video-sharing site. Viacom, parent company of MTV, failed to reach an agreement with Google’s YouTube.

The entertainment giant is now ordering YouTube to remove more than 100,000 video clips from its servers. All hope isn’t lost however if you’re looking to head down memory line. Other companies, including Warner Music Group and CBS have come to terms to allow some content to be uploaded by users. But in the meantime fans of old (and often forgettable) videos might want to play them while they can!

Viacom demands YouTube remove videos [Reuters]