YouTube strikes deal for 60s TV shows

Mountain View (CA) - In a move that will greatly increase copyrighted content on YouTube that is actually posted legally, the site has struck a deal with Digital Music Group to offer full episodes of TV shows from the 1960s.

I Spy and My Favorite Martian, which are currently not syndicated on any channel in the US, are among the shows that will be making an official appearance on YouTube. The digital group was formed two years ago and also has deals with online stores like iTunes and Napster.

In total, Digital Music Group owns or has licensing rights to over 4000 hours of video content. It has not announced details about any additional content that will make its way to YouTube.

A big crackdown came from Viacom last week, when the company ordered YouTube to pull over 100,000 videos that infringed on its copyrights. Even some videos that just showed the 5-second Viacom end-of-show idents were taken down. Previously, Viacom had turned a blind eye to the site, and even encouraging it in some cases.

After piracy concerns came to the forefront, many media companies have formed partnerships with YouTube to allow their content on the site, but only if it is directly uploaded from the company. CBS, NBC Universal, Universal Music Group, Warner Music, and Sony BMG have all entered into such agreements.