Perhaps Italy’s Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, sees Viacom’s ongoing action against Google and YouTube a viable strategy. His firm followed in Viacom’s footsteps, seeking a big payday from YouTube and its parent over allegations of copyright infringement.

Bloomberg said the case hit the courts in Rome, where Mediaset may try to make a play for supposed lost advertising revenue above and beyond the 500 million euros demanded. Mediaset claimed over 325 hours of their content hit YouTube, based on an assessment in June.

YouTube denied the allegations, pointing to its policy banning the uploading of copyrighted content, as well as its practice of taking down offending content upon notification.

That practice stems from the US DMCA provision that offers a safe harbor to websites that remove such content when instructed to by the content owner. It’s a defense Viacom, and now Mediaset, will try to dismantle in the courtroom.

There is little to suggest the big content companies really recognize the shift in societal expectations now that broadband connections and easy-to-use video services exist.

People used to gossip about their favorite shows face to face. But there is always something missing from being told about a funny situation on an episode of a series as opposed to seeing it.

When someone spots a moment they think is worth sharing beyond talking about it, they head to the Internet. Content companies despise this, their fans showing such interest, and the prospect of some website profiting from that broader, unauthorized exposure of their work.

The problem sounds more like it’s the media and not the masses. It’s 2008, a slew of companies from software powers like Adobe and Microsoft down to the smallest of startups have ideas on making videos a profitable vehicle for ads and distribution.

But the media companies, long accustomed to getting the whole hog, don’t want to settle for pieces of it even if they come from a vastly bigger animal. They want it all, fans be damned, copyright is the corporate shield, and they’ll go home carried on that shield before they back off and let fans be fans.

According to Reuters:

Mediaset said a sample analysis of YouTube at June 10 found "at least 4,643 videos and clips owned by us, equivalent to more than 325 hours of transmission without having rights".

Mediaset said this was equal to the loss of 315,672 days of broadcasting by its three TV channels.

I think YouTube’s shrug of the shoulders response is hilarious. Reuters says "a YouTube spokeswoman said it did not see the need for the legal case."

Really, YouTube? Don’t see the need, huh? OK, well I’m sure Mediaset will just scurry off and not worry about the copyrighted content being uploaded every day. Perhaps, Mediaset could apologize for the inconvenience and maybe wax Google’s jumbo jet while it’s at it.

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