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Google has hired new lawyers to defend itself against Viacom's $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit, the WSJ reports. Out with Phil Beck of Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP, in with a new team from Mayer Brown LLP. Google told us the move had to do with scheduling and Mayer Brown's New York legal expertise. You'd think almost a year in would be an odd time for such a change, but today's move is in keeping with the confusion to surrounding Google's defense team from the beginning.

After Viacom sued Google over copyright infringement on YouTube last spring, it was May before Google officially decided to go with Bartlit Beck in the first place.

The slow pace struck some as odd. Google knew legal troubles were coming for YouTube even before it bought the video sharing site in Fall 2006. When Google bought YouTube, it set aside $100 million $200 million for legal defenses against any copyright lawsuits.