YouTube has already got into trouble with Viacom, which owns MTV, for allowing users to put up content over which it (YouTube) has no proprietory control. Is a similar battle looming between YouTube’s owner Google and the newspapers of the world?
As things stand, the content of newspapers is freely available on Google and Google News, which then monetises it through advertising, sharing a portion of it with newspapers. But will newspaper owners, already feeling the pinch of falling circulation and advertising revenue, allow this one-way traffic to go on much longer to its detriment?
Sam Zell, the Chicago millionaire who has bought the Tribune Co which Los Angeles Times, has fired the first salvo.
“We have a situation today where effectively the content is being paid for by the newspapers and stolen by Google, etcetera. That can last for a short time, but it can’t last forever. I think Google and the boys understand that. We’re going to see new deals and new formulas in the media space that reflect the reality of cost benefit,” Zell said at a lecture at Stanford University
Read the full article: Sam Zell to turn against Google
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