Earlier this week, the three companies filed amicus briefs in support of Google and YouTube, which are defending themselves against a $1 billion copyright lawsuit by Viacom. In the briefs, they urge the judge presiding over the case to dismiss Viacom’s suit, claiming to do otherwise is to violate protections given Google under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

From the briefs:

[Viacom's] legal arguments, if accepted, would retard the development of the Internet and electronic commerce, create uncertainty for service providers regarding their legal exposure for alleged infringements, and inhabit the growth and development of user-centric online models that, day after day, make the Internet and the world more democratic.

The expression of support by Yahoo (YHOO), Facebook and eBay (EBAY) for Google follows a similar move by Hollywood. Earlier this month, Warner Bros., NBC Universal, Disney, the Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild of America filed amicus briefs of their own arguing, as Viacom (VIA) has, that Google (GOOG) is not protected by the DMCA, which shields Internet service providers from liability for copyright violations committed by users.

The friends of the court in this case, then, are aligned on both sides. All that remains is to determine whether the DMCA protects YouTube. And Viacom is confident that the court will determine that it does not.

“The courts have been clear that creating and building a Web-based business on the intellectual property of others is illegal,” a Viacom spokesperson told Bloomberg. “That is exactly what YouTube did in its formative years. Nothing in this case threatens the principles of the DMCA or the ability of legitimate Internet-based businesses to flourish.”

Well, that was quick.

Unlike the writers, who have been striking for a dog’s age now (11 weeks), the Directors Guild of America reached a three-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers after just five days of talks.

Internet issues were front and center, as with the writers.

“This was a very difficult negotiation that required real give and take on both sides,” said DGA president Michael Apted in a statement. “Nonetheless, we managed to produce an agreement that enshrines the two fundamental principles we regard as absolutely crucial to any employment and compensation agreement in this digital age: First, jurisdiction is essential. Without secure jurisdiction over new-media production–both derivative and original–compensation formulas are meaningless. Second, the Internet is not free. We must receive fair compensation for the use and reuse of our work on the Internet, whether it was originally created for other media platforms or expressly for online distribution.”

In practical terms, that means that directors get jurisdiction over: derivative product from other covered media; original content above $15,000/minute or $300,000/program or $500,000/series; and original content under that threshold when a DGA member is involved.

Here’s the DGA release with all the particulars of the settlement.

What this means for the writers’ continued strike is unclear, but the DGA agreement could be used to jump-start the negotiations between the writers and Hollywood studios anew.

One thing is certain: The pressure is now on the screenwriters.