Google stands firm against $1bn Viacom copyright suit

by Jennifer Whitehead, Campaign 16-Mar-07

Google has said it is confident it can successfully defend itself against a $1 billion lawsuit filed by Viacom against its YouTube service, which accuses the video-sharing website of "massive intentional copyright infringement".

Viacom filed the suit earlier this week, alleging that YouTube is
profiting from almost 160,000 unauthorised clips from its programming,
which includes shows such as Jackass, Beavis and Butt-head and SpongeBob

SquarePants.

It said YouTube is building a "lucrative business out of exploiting the
devotion of fans to others' creative works in order to enrich itself and
its corporate parent, Google".

However, Google is citing the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act in its
defence, saying it acts quickly to remove unauthorised content as soon
as copyright owners notify YouTube that it is online.

Google refused to comment on the implications for the posting of ads,
should Viacom's suit be successful, saying it wasn't appropriate to
speculate on hypothetical situations. A spokesman for YouTube said: "We
are confident that YouTube has respected the legal rights of copyright
holders and believe the courts will agree."