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Master Cell Phoner
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 426
Level up: 3%, 195 Points needed |
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youtube is busted by copyright infringe!
I heard the news Monday from Ireland
Viacom Suit Vs. YouTube Could Set The Legal Standard - Yahoo! News
Quote:
Viacom Suit Vs. YouTube Could Set The Legal Standard Brian Deagon
Wed Mar 14, 7:00 PM ET
Viacom's lawsuit filed against YouTube on Tuesday over the posting of videos could set a legal standard that either way would ripple through one of the fastest-growing segments of the Internet.
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Observers say the scope of the suit and the size of the contending parties make it stand out -- even though this isn't a first. Several pending lawsuits against YouTube deal with the same issues.
And Google-owned YouTube is just one of many sites that let anyone post, or link to, copyrighted content without the owner's consent. AOL, Microsoft (NasdaqGS:MSFT - News), Sony (NYSE:SNE - News) and Yahoo (NasdaqGS:YHOO - News) do the same, as do dozens of lesser-known Web sites.
The emerging legal battlefield also includes a suit filed five months ago by Universal Music Group against video-sharing Web sites Grouper (since acquired by Sony) and Bolt. A month later, Universal also sued MySpace, a unit of News Corp. (NYSE:NWS - News), for copyright violations.
Yet analysts say the Viacom lawsuit may represent a turning point 20hat could either squelch or foster innovation on the Web. For the fact is that many video-sharing, music-sharing and social networking Web sites do business in much the same way.
"They all have business models that are variations on the same YouTube theme," said Fred von Lohmann, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital watchdog group.
Von Lohmann and others say a win by Viacom would force Web sites to much more actively filter their content. Whether such measures are needed, and if taken how that might lessen the appeal of Web sites, are among the unknowns.
Some observers see the case as possibly heading for the top of the nation's legal ladder.
"No matter what the verdict in this Viacom case, you can bet we won't know for sure what is really going to happen until it hits the Supreme Court, because either side would likely appeal," said David Michail, who heads a law firm that focuses on intellectual property, the Internet and media.
The two sides also could of course settle long before reaching that point. In that case, the terms of that settlement might go a long way toward becoming an industry standard. YouTube and Viacom, whose units include Paramount Pictures, MTV and Comedy Central, have been in talks about a revenue-sharing arrangement. Those talks broke down early this year.
The central element of the case is whether Google (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News), which bought YouTube in November for $1.65 billion, is protected under the Safe Harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, passed in 1998. That law extended copyright protection but also gave some protection to Web innovators. As long as Web sites remove copyrighted material when asked, it appears -- according to a number of legal sources -- they can't be held liable.
Google, in a statement, says it's "confident that YouTube has respected the legal rights of copyright holders and (believes) the courts will agree."
Viacom contends YouTube isn't doing enough to block copyrighted content from appearing on its site, to pull that content when notified or to block its users from re-posting the content once it's removed. But far more than that, Viacom contends YouTube has actively worked to promote and induce the posting of copyrighted content.
Said a statement e-mailed by a Viacom spokesman: "DMCA protection ends when the service provider knows it is storing infringing material, or becomes aware of a 'red flag' from which infringing activity is apparent, and takes no action to remove the infringing material -- a description that fits YouTube to a tee.
"YouTube does not qualify for the DMCA 'notice and take down' safe harbor, which is limited to companies providing the basic building block functions of the Internet, transmission, caching, routing and providing connections."
Universal Music makes a similar point against MySpace.
But legal opinion is mixed.
Attorney Michail sees YouTube in good shape: "Unless Viacom and Universal find some smoking gun like an internal memo or e-mail indicating a willful intent to infringe, they are really grasping at straws. This is dangerous for Viacom and Universal because if they lose at the Supreme Court level, all bets are off and their stock will likely plummet. Google and News Corp. are not some small companies they can simply litigate out of business."
But Jeanine Gibbs, an intellectual property attorney with Wargo & French, sees it differently.
"It appears to me that Google and YouTube are taking an aggressive stance that is inconsistent with copyright laws," she said. "I don't think the safe harbor provision is safe enough to protect them. What they are doing is eating up the old rules of copyright laws."
Copyright 2007 Investor's Business Daily, Inc.
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03-14-2007, 09:40 PM
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