14 DAY TRIAL // Nowadays, one of the most known Google enemies is surely Viacom, the company that sued YouTube for publishing videos without authorization. If you don't know the story, let me present it to you: Viacom, the owner of MTV and Comedy Central, demanded YouTube to remove almost 100.000 clips from the page because the search giant receives praises and money without paying for the content provided by other publishers. Although the company agreed to remove all the clips, Viacom announced its intention to sue Google and require almost $1 billion in damages.
Most of the analysts sustained Viacom has no chance of winning the lawsuit because YouTube agreed with the MTV owner's demand and removed all the videos. Although numerous clips provided by Viacom are still available on Google's video service, the two firms confirmed the lawsuit.
Today, Google announced an interesting decision to include Blue Nile, MTV and Comedy Central movies into its Checkout solution.
"Our merchant list continues to expand with the recent addition of Blue Nile, MTV, and Comedy Central. One of the largest online retailers of certified diamonds and fine jewelry, Blue Nile makes it easy to select the perfect diamond. If music or comedy are more your thing, shop MTV and Comedy Central to find CDs, DVDs, T-shirts and other wearables featuring your favorite shows and artists," Shaluinn Fullove, Product Marketing Manager, sustained on the official blog of the product.
This announcement is at least interesting because Google was sued by Viacom for the content published on YouTube, the firm sustaining they didn't approve the upload process. I just wonder how the two companies agreed to offer Viacom's content on Google Checkout or maybe this represents the first step for a peaceful reconciliation.