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MarketingVOX: Mark Cuban, a vocal critic of YouTube, is expressing interest in buying a small Los Angeles news organization that filed a copyright-lawsuit against the video-sharing site.
Los Angeles News Service, a tiny operation that is unique because it is the first in L.A. to cover news in high definition, has aroused Cuban's interest, CNET reports. Given that Cuban owns HDNet, the first network to broadcast exclusively in high definition, Cuban's attention to the company seems only natural. However, as is usual with Cuban, there's another interesting angle.
Los Angeles News Service is home to famed helicopter pilot and journalist Robert Tur, who filed a lawsuit against YouTube earlier this year, alleging it encouraged users to break copyright laws; some of Tur's footage, including scenes from the 1992 L.A. riots, had been posted without his permission.
And in September, Cuban told a group of advertisers in New York that only a "moron" would buy YouTube, and that the company would fold from the weight of copyright lawsuits. Shortly after Google agreed to acquire YouTube, Cuban posted on his blog, Blog Maverick excerpts from an anonymously written blog claiming that Google paid off large media companies to avoid lawsuits. Google has officially denied this accusation.
Tur's lawsuit may give him access to internal YouTube documents during the discovery phase that could shed some light on the validity of those claims. If Cuban acquires Los Angeles News Service, he'd have access to those documents. CNET adds that Cuban has said he is not interested in buying the company for that reason.
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