Custer's Last Stand?
If Time Warner can’t work out a copyright deal with Google over YouTube, it’s not afraid to step up and sue like Viacom did, Dick Parsons said at the Cable Show Tues. "We’re just maybe a step or 2 behind Philippe [Dauman of Viacom]," Parsons said of his current discussions with Google. "I’m reasonably confident that we’ll find a way short of all out war to resolve this." He even suggested the issue may work itself out in the next few months. Dauman said Viacom chose reluctantly to sue after being unable to reach a deal after a period of negotiations. "Up to a point you can deal with it; past that point you have to protect those rights," he said. Parsons called the Googles of the world the "Custers" and "we are the Sioux nation." "At the end of the day, they lose this war if they go to war," he said. TW is the largest copyright holder in the US, and possibly the world, Parsons said, adding, "You can’t violate my copyrights and at the end of the day expect me just to take it."