The best legal defense in a copyright suit may be to say that the infringement doesn't matter. That, at least, is the route that the Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is taking in defending a suit from Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA).

"Viacom's complaint threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment, and political and artistic expression," The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] quotes Google as saying in a court document.

Fine. But what happened to addressing the issue of illegal posting of copyrighted video?

Google's response is that it takes down video when asked to. It is a bit like saying that a parking garage will call the police after people's cars are stolen. Let thieves steal the cars. We will try to recover them after they are gone.

The YouTube model was based, in part, on users posting content from media companies. Google knew that when it bought the video-sharing company. Now, the search giant is saying that it cannot be responsible for its users breaking the rules, even when it gives them the tools and distribution network to facilitate the actions.

Seems a little thin.

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

Recently, MySpace announced that it is taking measures to block unauthorized music. What does this all mean?

I had a chance to interview Steve Ellis, who is founder and CEO of Pump Audio. A former musician, he is now working along with major Internet and media brands to deal with copyright issues.

Q: What's your take on MySpace's recent moves on copyrights?

A: MySpace is recognizing that copyright rules apply in the online world, even when it comes to an individual consumer's social networking profile or latest online video creation. Now people can argue that record labels are being short-sighted not to allow consumers to essentially promote popular songs virally through places like MySpace, but the reality is that copyright law is pretty clear about use of unauthorized music. I think MySpace is making a smart move to address these issues now, rather than waiting for major legal action. Of course, MySpace no doubt is making a business decision as well given its reported plans to sell music but it would have had to face the issue sooner or later.

You'll see that MySpace won't be alone in cracking down on unauthorized use of copyrighted music because the major record labels and publishers are unlikely to sit back and have popular music shared widely. More and more Web sites, whether social networks or user-generated video service, will be addressing the issue whether through enforcement, deals with record labels or the use of music sources like Pump Audio where copyright issues are already solved.

In less than two years YouTube has become a global media brand. Then again, a key driver has been good content – which is often owned by major media companies.

Traditionally, the knee-jerk reaction would be to sue an upstart like YouTube.

But times are changing. And, this week, Warner Music Group has decided to partner with YouTube.

In the deal Warner will get a cut of the ad revenue for video views. And over time this could mean real money. After all, YouTube gets more than 100 million video views per day.

This is not to say YouTube is without risk. Universal Music Group recently made some threatening comments about the company's use of copyrighted material.

So, to hedge its bets, YouTube is implementing sophisticated software to spot infringing content.

But the good news is that Warner realizes that – in the digital world – lawsuits are an expensive waste. Why not get a piece of the action instead?

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates InvestorOffering.com.