Viacom $1b YouTube Google lawsuit gets a response - update

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 14 March 2007 06:56

Your IT - Entertainment

We’ve got Google’s response (with an update!) to the Viacom lawsuit, with the legal analysis flying all over the web, with some claiming Google will use the DMCA act as a defense – but it didn’t help Napster!

By now, you know the story – Viacom says 160,000 unauthorized video clips have led to an astounding 1.5 billion viewings on YouTube.

As you can expect, Viacom think that they have lost a lot of potential revenue from their content being used in this way, with an excellent article from ZDNet entitled ‘YouTube’s fate rests on decade-old copyright law’ shining some light onto the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) provisions which will be used by both sides to press their case.

Google has now issued a statement following Viacom’s lawsuit overnight where they believe that YouTube has done no wrong: "We 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."

Google’s General Counsel, Kent Walker, has also issued a statement which was sent to us by a Google representative. Walker says that: "YouTube has become even more popular since we took down Viacom's material.  We think that's a testament to the draw of the user-generated content on YouTube”. 

Walker’s statement continues that: “We've been very successful forging thousands of successful partnerships with content owners -- like Warner Music, Sony/BMG, Universal Music, BBC, and the NBA -- interested in finding new audiences for their programming.  These partnerships offer the YouTube community access to some of the best content in the world, ranging from entertainment and sports to politics and news.  And we're only getting started.”

So, in the time honored tradition, the best form of defense is attack! Watch out Viacom, if Google and YouTube keep on doing deals with the world’s major content creators, you might end up looking like the ones who wouldn’t play ball.