This is interesting, because it signals that the endless, futile?, war on piracy has finally brought about a change in attitude at the major entertainment companies. This is not entirely new, however. MGM announced in November last year that they would be the first to post full-length material on YouTube, though they never made a significant impact with the handful of movies they released. Disney announced, in the end of March this year, that they have licensed shorter content to YouTube.

Google and YouTube has had a turbulent relationship with Hollywood and the entertainment industry, because of the way they have dealt with copyright infringement on their website. YouTube gathered masses of viewers because of user submitted content, which was more than often pirated clips from major shows, movies & artists. When approached by copyright owners, Google claimed that they could not be held responsible for crimes committed by their users, and required written requests before any clips were removed.

Sony Pictures Entertainment, who had a reported revenue of US$8.58 billion in 2007, is a part of the Sony conglomerate, which also controls Sony Music Entertainment (formerly Sony BMG.) Sony is not new to YouTube, and the Sony BMG channel is offering 1784 videos.

Details about the negotiations and a potential agreement are scarce. According to CNET, “some studios are skeptical that users will accept all the ads that need to accompany a feature film in order to make it profitable.” The money the major studios have been collecting from theatre releases, DVD releases, cable releases and other sources can hardly be matched by advertising revenue alone, so it will be interesting to see what they come up with.