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Google responds to Viacom's $1bn 'infringement' lawsuit

by Shubha Krishnappa - May 1, 2007 - 0 comments

Reacting to Viacom Inc.'s copyright infringement lawsuit over Google's hugely popular video-sharing site YouTube, the online search leader has filed a confrontational official response in New York’s federal district court, contending that YouTube’s activities are legal.

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[quote=Shubha Krishnappa]<div class="flexinode-body flexinode-1"><div class="flexinode-textarea-1"><div class="form-item">
 <p>Reacting to Viacom Inc.'s copyright infringement lawsuit over Google's hugely popular video-sharing site YouTube, the online search leader has filed a confrontational official response in New York’s federal district court, contending that YouTube’s activities are legal.</p>
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 <p>In its response to the lawsuit, filed Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan, Google said that it has not infringed on the rights of the media company and denied virtually all the claims Viacom made in its lawsuit against Google.</p>
<p>In March, the New York-based entertainment giant Viacom Media filed a suit with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging Google's San Bruno-based video-sharing site YouTube knowingly infringed Viacom copyrights "on a huge scale." </p>
<p>In its lawsuit, the American media conglomerate claimed unauthorized display of over 160,000 video clips picked collectively from MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon by YouTube. Besides claiming "massive intentional copyright infringement" of its properties Viacom demanded for an injunction preventing Google and YouTube from further copyright infringement. Viacom also seeks more than US $1 billion in damages and an injunction against further violations against YouTube and its parent company Google Inc.</p>
<p>In an 11-page response to Viacom, Google said that Viacom’s claims were unfounded and asked for a judgment dismissing the complaint. Google also demanded a jury trial in its yesterday’s filing.</p>
<p>The Internet search giant also said that YouTube respects the importance of copyrights and goes above and beyond what is required under the 1998 law, known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which gives Web hosts protection from copyright lawsuits so long as they comply with requests to remove unauthorized material.</p>
<p>"By seeking to make carriers and hosting providers liable for Internet communications, Viacom's complaint threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment, and political and artistic expression," Google said in its official response, further arguing that Viacom's suit "challenges the careful balance established by Congress when it enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act."</p>
<p>YouTube, which Mountain View-based online search leader Google acquired for $1.65 billion last year, says it cooperates with holders of copyrights and rapidly complies with requests to have unauthorized material removed from the site. The online video service YouTube in February had agreed to remove 100,000 video clips from its hugely popular video-sharing site after Viacom’s claim that they had been placed on the site without its approval.</p>
<p>In a briefing with reporters at Google's headquarters, Michael Kwun, Google's managing counsel for litigation said, "We think YouTube offers the world's leading platform for entertainment, education and free speech." Kwun said the companies are not engaged in settlement talks and added "We're not going to let this lawsuit distract us." </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Viacom denied yesterday that YouTube qualifies for protection under the DMCA, arguing that the company has prior knowledge of infringing material and is also profiting from pirated works. On Google’s response, Viacom said, “This response ignores the most important fact of the suit,” arguing that the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA do not apply to Google because copyrighted material is associated with YouTube's business platform.</p>
<p>Philip Beck, a top trial lawyer from the Chicago firm Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott who represented George Bush in the fight over the 2000 presidential election, will represent Google in the case. Philip Beck also defended Merck in the Vioxx drug case.</p>
<p>David Kramer, a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and a famed Silicon Valley litigator, is also joining Beck in the case.</p>
<p>Founded in February 2005 by three former employees of PayPal, YouTube is a popular free video sharing website which lets users upload, view, and share video clips. It uses the Adobe Flash technology to display video, and currently is handling a monthly traffic of over 70 million users.</p>
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