on YouTube and did what any self-respecting media company would do these days—it sued. But they’re not suing YouTube. They’re subpoenaing the company to release the name of the offending subscriber.

The “24″ episodes in question actually appeared on YouTube before their primetime Jan. 14 premiere on the Fox broadcast network, which spread four hour long episodes of the hit drama over two consecutive nights. Fox became aware that the episodes were on YouTube on Jan. 8, according to the subpoena.

As for the Simpsons episodes, those were all from season 7 except for a few from 1990. Rich content, indeed.

That’s the new MO, friends. Most of these guys have already started partnerships with each other so the only one left to sue is Joe Torrent and his magical remote downloading skills.

Fox seeks YouTube user’s identity [HolllywoodReporter via GoogleWatch]