Redlasso gets lassoed

NBC and Fox, the co-owners of streaming video network Hulu.com, are suing video-clip service Redlasso for violating copyright and trademark rights.

Redlasso permits websites to embed short clips of shows "without any authorization, permission, consent or license from the networks," the lawsuit alleges. The site positions itself as "The Bloggers On-line Media Center [sic]."

The suit was filed in a New York federal district court. Fox and NBC are pursuing monetary damages and an injunction against the startup.

In similar news, Viacom recently won the right to cruise YouTube user records after claiming the Google-owned site violates copyright. The ruling sparked blogger backlash against Viacom's "big brother"-style probing. Unabashed, the company later demanded records of what Google employees uploaded onto YouTube.