The New York Times reports that YouTube has been in discussions with Lionsgate Entertainment, Sony and Warner Brothers in the hope of securing a licensing deal to host feature length films on its video sharing site. Sony and Warner Brothers have thus far declined to comment, but Lionsgate spokesman Peter Wilkes stated that the company is keeping its options open for expanding the availability of its catalogue. YouTube has been similarly silent about the agreement, simply stating that it "hopes to expand both on our great relationships with movie studios and on the selection and types of videos we offer our community."
The main contentious areas for all parties at this stage seem to be those of pricing, timing and availability of releases. With YouTube still failing to break even, Google believes that providing paid-for films may offer a route to profitability.
YouTube has previously dipped its feet into the market by agreeing to a joint online venture with Universal Music to create a separate site Vevo, providing music videos and related content. This site has yet to launch, so it is unclear how a move away from YouTube branding will fare, and how this will be received by the online community.
There is still no word of a launch date for either service.
