Bait and snitch: BayTSP spies on YouTube

BayTSP, a small start-up, makes it money by checking video (subscription required) on Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube to find material that infringes on copyrights from major media companies One of its largest clients is Viacom (NYSE:VIA) which has a huge case pending against the world's largest video sharing site.

When BayTSP finds video that should not be on YouTube, it sends e-mail to the company to have it taken down. At one point earlier this year, the company identified over 100,000 video clips which Viacom is using as part of its $1 billion lawsuit claiming Google willfully ignores copyright laws.

But, efforts from the service could cut both ways in the lawsuit. YouTube does take down the clips that have been identified, and does so quickly. It is Google's view that the responsible parties are the users who post the videos and not YouTube. The fact that clips are removed on request may play in Google's favor in the court case.

The abilities of the service raises another interesting possibility which is that content companies could bring suits against private individuals who post proprietary content.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.