YouTube users will soon be able to view a lot more of the Lionsgate film library. According to Variety, the studio has formed a pact with YouTube for content-sharing. The studio will make numerous clips from its film and television library available through a branded channel on the site.

The channel will likely be up by Labor Day and the revenue generated from the Lionsgate videos, supported by ads before the videos, will be split between the site and studio, although exact percentages have not been determined. The move comes at a unique time, especially with Viacom's lawsuit against Google, which owns YouTube.

While the number of videos that Lionsgate will make available is unknown, Google chairman/CEO Erik Schmidt said, "it's in their best interest for more."

The deal is similar to the one struck by YouTube and CBS a few years ago, before Google purchased the site, but is far more generous with user permissions.

"(The partnership) grew out of discussions about claiming -- the process of getting content off YouTube," said Curt Marvis, Lionsgate president of digital media. "But if there's an audience for our content, it was like, 'Wait a minute. Let's not put our heads in the sands here. Let's give them what they want and get revenue from it.'"

Marvis added: "We're trying to be as progressive as we can be as opposed to shutting them down. That didn't seem to work very well for the music industry."