Veoh Wins Copyright Infringement Lawsuit; Viacom-YouTube Next?

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Veoh Wins Copyright Infringement Lawsuit; Viacom-YouTube Next?

Updated below: No, this isn’t the big one, but nonetheless an important precedent: A federal judge in San Jose ruled today that video-sharing site Veoh was not liable for copyrighted material uploaded to its site, dismissing an early 2006 case filed against it by Io Group, an adult video firm. The site pleaded its defense under the “safe harbor” provisions of DMCA copyright law, which meant it could be safe as long as it removed the infringing video when alerted by the copyright holder, which the judge said that Veoh was doing. Meanwhile Veoh’s suit against Universal Music Group is still going on.

In the other higher profile case of Viacom (NYSE: VIA) vs YouTube, on similar grounds, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) quickly came out with a statement welcoming this new decision, reports WSJ, and affirming the legality of its own video-sharing service. “It is great to see the Court confirm that the DMCA protects services like YouTube that follow the law and respect copyrights…YouTube has gone above and beyond the law to protect content owners while empowering people to communicate and share their experiences online,” said YouTube Chief Counsel Zahavah Levine.

More, including embed of full judgment after the jump...

SAI points out a key distinction that the judge mentions, between this case and the original P2P music piracy cases: “Napster (NSDQ: NAPS) existed solely to provide the site and facilities for copyright infringement, and its control over its system was directly intertwined with its ability to control infringing activity… by contrast, Veoh’s right and ability to control its system does not equate to the right and ability to control infringing activity. Unlike Napster, there is no suggestion that Veoh aims to encourage copyright infringement on its system. And, there is no evidence that Veoh can control what content users choose to upload before it is uploaded…unlike Napster (whose index was comprised entirely of pirated material), Veoh’s ability to control its index does not equate to an ability to identify and terminate infringing videos. For the most part, the files in question did not bear titles resembling plaintiff’s works; and, Io did not provide Veoh with its titles to search.”

Updated: Viacom came out with a statement as well: “Even if the Veoh decision were to be considered by other courts, that case does nothing to change the fact that YouTube is a business built on infringement that has failed to take reasonable measures to respect the rights of creators and content owners. Google and YouTube have engaged in massive copyright infringement – conduct that is not protected by any law, including the DMCA.”

The full judgement, embedded below:

Veoh vs IO - Free Legal Forms

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Rafat Ali

@rafatali Aug 28, 2008 12:46 AM ET

Posted In: Legal, Social Media, Video, Companies, Google, YouTube, Viacom, dmca, veoh

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jinzu23

for the most case. i should say they need a new way of working with the copyright infringement. especially on youtube. when i make music videos to put up on youtube, i place a disclaimer on my page that i don't own the music, nor the scenes that i use. even more in the beginning of each video i show the artists who made the song, yet i still get hit for copyright infringement. if anything such things actually promote the music industries. with youtube more of "their" music is reaching the ears of the people. if its a popular video and many people are watching it, more then likely they'll look into the croup and buy an ablum if it really catches their interest. but the way it is, i doubt their going to go through with making a better infringement system that doesn't anger the people who are uploading things that give the claim to the rightful holders of the music they use and also are not making any profit off of the videos themselves. its nothing more then for entertainment and nothing else…so why the music industry paranoia? why should we have to get blocked, muted, and accounts deleted when we're not using it in a manner harmful to the companies in any way? majority of the bands that create the music don't care about people making things from them if their getting credit for it, its really just the industries that go the extra mile and beyond to take such measures of ruining everyone elses enjoyment. of course, youtube will never back the people that use its site, mainly for the reason that considering it all…people will still use youtube no matter what so i'm guessing they don't feel the need or worth to battle out a point of making an infringement system that isn't unfair to the people on the site.

abbynormal

well… i for one am glad to see this… and the fact that this will put your content in front of far more eyes than your so called distrbution networks that overcharge far more than they deliver… with the number of crap movies that come out anymore it is nice to be able to watch them online first and then go pick up the dvd if it is worty of such a thing… many are not… quality is the best thing to stop this… make good content and we will buy it… make crap like you have been doing and we will choose the disposable route… watch, delete and forget…. you have only yourselves to blame… same as the music industry…

Martin

I agree with G. This was a sloppy approach from a copyright holder. One thing though, Napster's "index comprised entirely of copyrighted material" - huh??? Feels like a scary lack of understanding among those handing down legal precedent…

G

Rafat - the only point the judement makes is telling copyright holders to present facts and not show up in court with nothing but a four letters sketched on a placard "DMCA" . If you read through it - the judge merely asked the plaintiff to present facts and only reason Veoh got a summary judgement. Viacom and others will be arriving in court with thousands of pieces of documentation - and this decision will in no way impact Viacom's case against Google. Had this been about anything other than the DMCA, news like this would not even make it to the classified section of a decent newspaper..