The right of established content holders to distribute their content as they please has been an underlying theme of much of the discussion here today. The keynote interview with Viacom (NYSE: VIA) general counsel Michael Fricklas tackled this question head on, given his company’s $1 billion lawsuit against Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and YouTube.  Fricklas didn’t come out swinging in the interview, but rather took a fairly political stance, acknowledging that new media and traditional media should have common ground.  The problem, as he sees it, is that new media companies want cheap and fast access to content, while the industry is characterized by an intricate web of legal and economic relationships.  Thus, going forward, many of these established relationships will be reworked in some way, both through markets and the courts. 

Fricklas offered Veoh as an example of a company that has behaved responsibly, instituting filters and making an effort to direct its users to legitimate sources of copyrighted content.  Established media firms, he argued, should base their business models on what people say, but on what consumers (as expressed through the market) want.  People want their short form video, but also want $100 million blockbuster movies, which need a model to produce a return on investment.  He claimed also that people intuitively understand the illegality of file sharing and that consumers aren’t put off by Viacom’s move.

Status of the lawsuit: Still in the discovery phase.  Lawsuit will get to the courts in early 2009.  Says YouTube can’t claim DMCA protection, because YouTube clearly has been aware of copyright infringements.  Also argues that since YouTube obtains a financial benefit from copyright infringement, they’re not entitled to protection.  Can’t predict the likelihood of a settlement.