The search engine, which , made the comment in a highly confidential document, which was obtained by Viacom and presented in the company's lawsuit against Google.

Viacom sued Google in 2007 for $1bn in damages for hosting infringing content on .

The comments came to light after the latest batch of documents used in the case, which is expected to go to trial later this year, were unsealed.

According to the , in other unsealed case documents Google labelled YouTube as a "rogue enabler of content theft".

The search engine also proposed it distance itself from the video-sharing site "based on our respect for copyright" and that a "play first, deal later" policy should be adopted when dealing with "hot content".