What’s up Viacom? Drop the lawsuit!

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I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that Viacom is suing Google for almost $1 billion over copyright infringements for unauthorized use of its programming on YouTube. Viacom broadcasts stations such as: MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. They are a publicly traded company worth billions of dollars whose networks reach millions of people world wide. I’ve always been a big fan of many of their stations and I’ve also admired their innovations in media and marketing; Until now.

Web 2.0 is all about user generated content, viral marketing, accepting the things we can not change, and taking the advice of the Internet ( users, customers, advertisers, employees) to build and innovate new products. YouTube is so successful because it gives users the ability to share their views, politics, or themselves anytime and anywhere. User generated content has successfully challenged traditional media and empowered the average “Joe” with the ability to share information with a world wide community. It took years for record labels to admit defeat by the peer networks ( they also spent billions of wasted dollars in legal fees). In reality, it’s not about defeat…It’s not about win or lose. Do you want to know the real issue?

Here it is: Business changes. Economies change. Consumers change. Technology empowers the change. It makes no sense to fight economic change. The most successful way to thrive in a challenging and ever changing world is to adapt. Adapt new business models and services that complement the change. There are millions of users out there who would love nothing more than to see MTV work with YouTube…Viacom, I have a question for you….If you suspect that so many users ( and I say users because this is not YouTube or Google’s fault!) are uploading “unauthorized” clips of your shows, don’t you think there is a ripe opportunity to partner with YouTube and reward your advertisers with additional viewers and response? Well, clearly not ( and I apologize for answering the question for you). You see, all you are going to do is the following:

• Waste millions of dollars on legal fees
• Inflate the cost of advertising on your network and Google’s network
• Piss off the internet community and anyone who understands the future of the web
• Attempt to enact crazy legislation that will never be passed.
• Waste the time of every judge, lawyer ( well, maybe not lawyers…They’ll love the billing), clerk, executive and employee, user, advertiser and contractor involved.

Come on now! Hey Sumner Redstone: Is this all your doing? I sure hope not. If so, man, what a foolish move. A great poet once said that “Conversation is like circles; It always comes back to where it started” I think we all should take the advice of Mr. Hemingway here. Drop the damn suit and get back to business.