Viacom Ups Ante In YouTube Copyright Spat: Google More Than A Mere Enabler
Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is getting a lot of attention for claiming in its latest court brief (.pdf) that Viacom’s (NYSE: VIA) lawsuit against YouTube “threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment, and political and artistic expression.” The rhetoric headlines a familiar legal argument, that the DMCA protects YouTube’s right to host copyrighted content from third parties without fear of liability.
While it might seem like this case is getting a little tired, Cynthia Brumfeld noticed that Viacom actually raised the stakes in a recently (.pdf) amended complaint from April. In addition to pointing out that YouTube hosts all kinds of copyrighted content, the company emphasizes that YouTube is guilty of public performance of such content due to the way it presents and plays the videos. The filing highlights YouTube’s embedding and sharing features as particularly problematic for the way it encourages infringement. Rather than just helping users violate copyright, it argues, YouTube is a direct infringer.
Legally, this may be a more robust charge, though it’s basically an elaboration of Viacom’s original argument, that to say YouTube is merely video storage site is pollyannaish. It’s not changing Google’s core argument though: ‘we supply the tools; what our users do with them is their business (though we’ll take down videos at copyright holders request!).’
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Comments (3)
May 27, 2008 4:33 PM
I think Viacom is totally right about this. Google rarely loses a battle but they may lose this one. They bought Youtube knowing full well that they had this problem. I do not see it going away. Youtube is full of pirated material—- plain and simple and there’s no way to argue against this.
May 28, 2008 12:59 AM
google needs to just buy viacom and stop sueing itself. if they owned the copyrights they can’t be sued for not owning them. it does open up problems but it solves this one immediately. withholding media from the public is questionably legal.
May 29, 2008 12:14 PM
There is a large amount of material that is not copyrighted on YouTube. Should all of those content producers and viewers suffer to appease Viacom? I watch things all the time by amateur comedians, musicians, etc. That is the real threat Viacom is afraid of; they are worried I would rather watch that than the junk they broadcast.
People use phones to conduct drug deals. Phone companies can filter and stop those conversations. It won’t be easy, but they can do it. If we don’t require phone companies to do that, then why should we require the same of Google?