GOOGLE’S YOUTUBE VYING FOR MIRAMAX LIBRARY

In an apparent effort to maintain its lead as the Internet’s top video site, Google-owned YouTube is reportedly in talks with the new owners of Miramax about acquiring online rights to its sizable movie library. According to the Wall Street Journal, the 700-film library could be used not only to bolster YouTube’s paid rental store and the free ad-supported video site, but also buttress Google TV, the online-to-TV-set service that has been hit by a virtual boycott by the major television networks. Any deal must await the completion of the sale of Miramax by the Walt Disney Company to the investment group Filmyard Holdings headed by Tom Barrack and Ron Tutor. And the Los Angeles Times observed that existing deals with cable networks would limit the availability of some Miramax titles for an even longer period, since typically those deals call for exclusive rights to the movies for as long as 14 years.