As labor negotiations get underway this week between the Writers Guild and Hollywood producers, this story points to the differentiation that is emerging in the online world. Sony is figuring out a way to discover marketable material in the mass of video that is now available online. As the story notes: “Online video is entering a new phase: The media companies that snapped up video start-ups over the last few years are now touting the possibility of the “big break” to attract more polished submissions than pratfalls and pet tricks.”

This may be a more viable strategy to develop profitable material online than the open source type sites like Facebook, MySpace and YouTube.

But will the guilds be able to get collective bargaining coverage for this upstart operation?

Sony offers a big break for Internet video stars – Los Angeles Times