Grouper Network Inc

Sony Pictures Entertainment today is expected to join Hollywood's new-media mash-up by buying online video service Grouper Networks Inc. With its $65-million acquisition of Grouper, the movie and television unit of Sony Corp. becomes the latest traditional media company to vie for a growing -- and potentially lucrative -- Internet audience that prefers its entertainment short and, often, stupid. Video-sharing sites such as Grouper and category leader YouTube Inc.

Universal Music Group is suing two online video companies for alleged copyright infringement, signaling a new round of litigation aimed at sites that attract millions of viewers with quirky, short-form entertainment known as viral video. The federal lawsuits alleged massive infringement by Grouper Networks Inc. and Bolt Inc. for permitting users to post without authorization hundreds of music videos from such popular artists as Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Black Eyed Peas.

Jennifer Urban, a law professor at USC, wanted to watch home movies of her 7-month-old nephew Peter in England, but nothing seemed to work. The videotapes and DVDs were in the wrong format, and the digital movie files were too big to e-mail. Then Urban hit on a software program called Grouper. And in addition to movies of her nephew, Grouper offers Urban, who specializes in copyright law, insight into how technology is testing the boundaries of copyright in a digital age.