BERTIE COURTING RECORDTV.COM

Just weeks after after hooking up with Napster, Bertelsmann is making its second attempt to work with a litigation-prone Internet startup. The media conglomerate is in talks with online TV company RecordTV.com, which hopes that a similar partnership will alleviate legal pressures from motion picture companies.

A year after its founding, RecordTV.com was sued for up to $10 million by 12 entertainment companies, including Disney and MGM. These companies claim that the site, which allows users to record television shows and watch them later via the Internet, violates copyright law by operating as an Internet VCR and sending programming to consumers (unlike Tivo and Replay, which are simply digital recorders).

In the proposed deal, Bertelsmann would license RecordTV's technology. This move could legitimize the Web site by showing major media interest in the technology, as well as boost investor confidence, an issue RecordTV has been struggling with since the lawsuit was filed.

Bertelsmann mediaSystems Italy e-business manager Giovanni Giamminola (now there's a mouthful of gnocchi) said he is close to completing the deal but would not offer the service without the cooperation of the television companies that own the programs, according to reports.