Sequoia's portfolio companies have taken a relaxed view on copyright infringement, at least when it's suited them. Most famously, Youtube, which the venture firm sold to Google for $1.65bn last year, hosted so many clips from the Daily Show and other Viacom programs that it's prompted a huge lawsuit by Sumner Redstone's media giant. That back story makes particularly delicious the battle with online pirates being waged by Sequoia's latest video venture, Funny or Die. Within a few hours of the comedy site's launch, its showcase video — a webisode called the Landlord and featuring actor Will Ferrell — had been copied and posted to Youtube. You think the Sequoia-backed firm, which is relying on viral distribution of its content, would be relaxed about a bit of promotion on the premier video site? That's one joke they won't get. Funny or Die is sending copyright infringement notices to Youtube just as furiously as any lame big media company. Check out the notice on this Youtube page, which once contained the Ferrell sketch. Then again, nobody said that venture capital firms had to be consistent in their approach to copyright — only in their desire to generate investment returns. And, in any case, the fate of Youtube is now Google's problem.

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