Universal's Grokster is showing

Reuters and other outlets are reporting that yesterday Universal Music Group Chief Executive Doug Morris had these fighting words for MySpace and YouTube:

We believe these new businesses are copyright infringers and owe us tens of millions of dollars. . . .

How we deal with these companies will be revealed shortly.

Morris went on to cite MTV as a multi-billion dollar company the music industry mistakenly and shortsightedly bootstrapped by providing free promotional videos.

A few thoughts:

• Quite a negotiating tactic, as MySpace and YouTube attempt to strike deals with the music industry.
• Does anyone think MTV was anything but a boon to music sales?
• Hearing the MGM v. Grokster saber rattled concerning YouTube is no big surprise, but since when is MySpace a big hotbed of infringement?  Granted I'm only an occasional visitor, but my impression is just the opposite — the music I've seen there is included on a voluntary, legal, and authorized basis, and as I discussed earlier today MySpace is poised to take commercial advantage of precisely this fact.