YouTube Vs. Viacom
MTV's owner, Viacom, launched a surprise attack on Google yesterday, filing a $1bn (£520m) lawsuit against the internet giant and its YouTube video-sharing website.
In documents filed with a US district court in New York, Viacom - which runs TV channels including MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Comedy - accused the Silicon Valley firm of "massive intentional copyright infringement" on YouTube, which Google bought last year for $1.65bn.
The lawsuit is the latest flare-up in a running battle between the two companies over a host of clips taken from TV which have subsequently appeared on the video sharing site.
It is the largest case of its kind faced by Google, which faces a series of accusations from a variety of sources. Many established media owners - including book publishers and newspapers - are concerned that Google is unfairly profiting from their work by running advertising alongside content shown on its website. Last week Microsoft joined the fray by accusing Google of a "cavalier" attitude to copyright, which threatened the long-term futures of many creative industries.
Copyright is obviously a serious offence between lucrative businesses; therefore I think that Google should have made a decent arrangement with Viacom before allowing MTV clips to be distributed on YouTube. On the other hand, YouTube make sure that viewers of the site agree to Terms & Conditions before posting up certain clips, therefore it is out of the control of YouTube to monitor everything that has been put onto the website. I do think that filing a lawsuit is a bit unnecessary as I am sure that everything must have been a misunderstanding, Viacom needn’t be so childish.
In documents filed with a US district court in New York, Viacom - which runs TV channels including MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Comedy - accused the Silicon Valley firm of "massive intentional copyright infringement" on YouTube, which Google bought last year for $1.65bn.
The lawsuit is the latest flare-up in a running battle between the two companies over a host of clips taken from TV which have subsequently appeared on the video sharing site.
It is the largest case of its kind faced by Google, which faces a series of accusations from a variety of sources. Many established media owners - including book publishers and newspapers - are concerned that Google is unfairly profiting from their work by running advertising alongside content shown on its website. Last week Microsoft joined the fray by accusing Google of a "cavalier" attitude to copyright, which threatened the long-term futures of many creative industries.
Copyright is obviously a serious offence between lucrative businesses; therefore I think that Google should have made a decent arrangement with Viacom before allowing MTV clips to be distributed on YouTube. On the other hand, YouTube make sure that viewers of the site agree to Terms & Conditions before posting up certain clips, therefore it is out of the control of YouTube to monitor everything that has been put onto the website. I do think that filing a lawsuit is a bit unnecessary as I am sure that everything must have been a misunderstanding, Viacom needn’t be so childish.
posted by Dinni @ 8:59 pm
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