Google’s long and vicious battle with Viacom is at last drawing to an end, as a ruling in favor of a summary judgment threw the match to the search engine. According to Search Engine Land,
Viacom had sued YouTube/Google for copyright infringement surrounding the posting of scores of clips of Viacom-owned programming (e.g., Jon Stewart) on YouTube. Viacom had sought damages for infringement that might have run more than a billion dollars.
Viacom reportedly is not giving up, however; their statement indicates an intent to appeal:
We believe that this ruling by the lower court is fundamentally flawed and contrary to the language of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the intent of Congress, and the views of the Supreme Court as expressed in its most recent decisions. We intend to seek to have these issues before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as soon as possible. After years of delay, this decision gives us the opportunity to have the Appellate Court address these critical issues on an accelerated basis. We look forward to the next stage of the process.
Google is quite pleased, according to all reports, releasing this statement:
Today, the court granted our motion for summary judgment in Viacom’s lawsuit with YouTube. This means that the court has decided that YouTube is protected by the safe harbor of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) against claims of copyright infringement. The decision follows established judicial consensus that online services like YouTube are protected when they work cooperatively with copyright holders to help them manage their rights online.
Viacom’s legal counsel weighs in:
We are disappointed with the judge’s ruling, but confident we will win on appeal . . .
This case has always been about whether intentional theft of copyrighted works is permitted under existing law and we always knew that the critical underlying issue would need to be addressed by courts at the appellate levels. Today’s decision accelerates our opportunity to do so.
According to NASDAQ, appealk isn’t the sure thing Viacom seems to think it will be:
The presiding judge, U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton, found that by cooperating with Viacom to remove material that violated or offended Viacom’s copyright claims, YouTube had protected itself from liability under the DMCA. Obviously, Viacom will appeal and the case will likely continue for several more months.
However, the case represents a significant victory for Google, and by extension for YouTube users, who rely on the ability to use, modify, parody and remix video clips of copyrighted material for much of their original content. YouTube says it has tried to cooperate with copyright holders as much as possible, and most users of YouTube can attest to the service’s speedy response. Offending material is often deleted within minutes or hours of being posted.
If and when Viacom’s appeal is granted, the case will move to the circuit court, where many analysts say Viacom has little chance of winning.
Tags: copyright infringement, Google, Viacom, video content, YouTube