Ahoy YouTube! Piracy on the Post-Google Seas

Can pirated content survive on the new GoogTube?

While media analysts were going gaga over the announcement that Google closed its deal on YouTube Monday afternoon, news published a few hours earlier should not be overlooked.

Corporate media giants CBS, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group announced they were following the lead of Warner Music Group in allowing the distribution and licensing of copyrighted material on YouTube. Amateur video-makers can also incorporate select songs and other copyrighted content into their own video projects and upload them to the site.

In exchange for such free-for-all piracy, YouTube will share advertising revenue with the copyright holders as well as promise to monitor the use of illegal content that is not part of the deals.

Good luck. While YouTube claims it has technology in place to automatically spot copyrighted material, how feasible is it to double-check the roughly 65,000-plus videos uploaded every day? And what's to stop such pirated creations appearing elsewhere and unmonitored across the web?

With conglomerates such as CBS, Time Warner, Universal, and Sony already signing up for what may come in this unsteady digital universe, several analysts are convinced that old media will find a way to work with new media.

But there are so many potential potholes that it may take a long time to make nice: What about talent residuals, for instance? If CBS and Universal are making a dime off music videos or television shows, shouldn't the artists who made those works of art see some of the profit? Mark my words: this is only the beginning.