We know that YouTube has had informal talks with a number of companies about acquisition in the $1.5 - $2 billion range. And I suspect Google won"t be daunted by the prospect of dealing with a ton of ****ed off copyright holders.
TechCrunch wrote: "I got an email tonight about a possible Google acquisition of YouTube that may be in the final stages before closing. Rumored price is $1.6 billion. A quick phone call to a VC confirmed that the rumor is circulating (he also confirmed the price), but that is far from confirmation that this deal is happening. I"m digging for more but the source on this one is very good."