CBS is taking a leading role in embracing social media - with all its legal complications of infrigement. This is a passionate topic of mine - are fans breaking the law when making slideshows or video mashups of their favorite shows… or does this propel the fandom of the show as free marketing.

CBS is experimenting now to see just how viral the social web can be.

Fans of CBS shows will soon be able to slice clips from prime-time shows, send them to friends and even ‘mash’ them together in ways that only a short time ago would have triggered complaints of copyright infringement.

CBS Corp. chief executive Leslie Moonves said Tuesday his company would embrace products and technologies that allow viewers to ‘time shift’ and ‘place shift’ his network’s shows and interact with them in new ways. [AP]

Embracing the social web has not just meant putting content online and being done with it. Putting tv shows on iTunes - free or with a fee - was just a baby step. CBS is now engaging with its audience. Creating a Star Trek Enterprise inside Second Life. Creating a virtual “skybox” for sports fans to mingle. And updating all its websites to be more interactive.