NBC-Universal will be participating in a test of YouTube's new copyright monitoring functionality, reports the Wall Street Journal.

As Google rolls out its monitoring system for copyrighted clips on YouTube, NBC will be taking part in a test of how well that system works. Proving to media companies that it works could go a long way toward encouraging them to partner with YouTube. NBC's participation means it's tabling the idea of joining Viacom in legal action against YouTube.

The "fingerprinting" system works by analyzing audio and video of uploaded clips. Potential owners of that content are then alerted for further investigation. Clips are not filtered before they're uploaded, a process YouTube says would involve pre-verifying the identity of the uploader.

Google is reportedly using technology from Audible Magic for identifying clips until it can develop its own software. Audible Magic tools are also being used on Microsoft's Soapbox site and a number of others. The software uses audio and video provided by the media companies and analyzes new uploads against those baseline copies.