Viacom in $1 bln copyright suit vs Google, YouTube from Reuters reports that Viacom Inc. has confirmed they will be suing Google over “massive intentional copyright infringement” for $1 billion. The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, after claiming “a great deal of unproductive negotiation” with Google lead them to this action. See Techmeme here for related coverage.
Postscript: Showbiz’s site fright at Variety.com shows the recent love-hate relationship Hollywood has towards YouTube.
Postscript 2: We have just received a statement from Google:
We have not received the lawsuit but are confident that YouTube has respected the legal rights of copyright holders and believe the courts will agree. YouTube is great for users and offers real opportunities to rights holders: the opportunity to interact with users; to promote their content to a young and growing audience; and to tap into the online advertising market. We will certainly not let this suit become a distraction to the continuing growth and strong performance of YouTube and its ability to attract more users, more traffic and build a stronger community.
Postscript 3: Viacom posted the official release for the suit.
Related Topics: Google: Legal | Google: YouTube & Video | Legal: Copyright
And well they should as I believe Google wouldn’t hesitate to sue them if the situation were reversed.
The most galling thing about this suit is its claim that most of YouTube’s $1.65B value comes from Viacom clips.
That’s just ridiculous. Viacom itself claims only 100,000 clips. YouTube hosts two million new clips per month.