Viacom Wants $1B from Google and YouTube In Piracy Lawsuit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) March 14, 2007 -- It had to happen: Viacom recently issued a statement concerning its ongoing dispute with Google�s YouTube, which Viacom sees solved only in court.

The lawsuit was filed against YouTube and Google at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York �for massive intentional copyright infringement of Viacom�s entertainment properties�.

Viacom wants no less than 1 billion dollars from Google and YouTube, also requesting an injunction that would prohibit the two Web giants (which are now one, after Google�s acquisition of YouTube last year for 1.65 billion dollars) from further displaying Viacom�s copyrighted materials on YouTube or on Google Video.

Viacom�s complaint contends that almost 160,000 unauthorized clips belonging to the media giant�s programming have been available on YouTube and that these clips had been viewed more than 1.5 billion times.

Viacom also slammed YouTube�s copyright policy: �YouTube is a significant, for-profit organization that has built a lucrative business out of exploiting the devotion of fans to others� creative works in order to enrich itself and its corporate parent Google. Their business model, which is based on building traffic and selling advertising off of unlicensed content, is clearly illegal and is in obvious conflict with copyright laws. In fact, YouTube�s strategy has been to avoid taking proactive steps to curtail the infringement on its site, thus generating significant traffic and revenues for itself while shifting the entire burden � and high cost � of monitoring YouTube onto the victims of its infringement.�

At the beginning of February, Viacom Inc. had demanded that Google Inc.'s online video service YouTube remove more than 100,000 video clips after a failed distribution agreement.

"Filtering tools promised repeatedly by YouTube and Google have not been put in place, and they continue to host and stream vast amounts of unauthorized video," Viacom said in a subsequent statement. YouTube agreed to comply, although a YouTube spokeswoman was quoted saying �it's unfortunate that Viacom will no longer be able to benefit from YouTube's passionate audience, which has helped to promote many of Viacom's shows."

Viacom accused YouTube again in today�s press release that it still does not deliver the promised anti-piracy tools: �This behavior stands in stark contrast to the actions of other significant distributors, who have recognized the fair value of entertainment content and have concluded agreements to make content legally available to their customers around the world.

There is no question that YouTube and Google are continuing to take the fruit of our efforts without permission and destroying enormous value in the process. This is value that rightfully belongs to the writers, directors and talent who create it and companies like Viacom that have invested to make possible this innovation and creativity.

After a great deal of unproductive negotiation, and remedial efforts by ourselves and other copyright holders, YouTube continues in its unlawful business model. Therefore, we must turn to the courts to prevent Google and YouTube from continuing to steal value from artists and to obtain compensation for the significant damage they have caused.�

Founded just 22 months ago, YouTube features about 100 million videos per day, though much of the content belongs to traditional media companies and has been posted without their permission.

Last month, a spokesman for Viacom Inc., owner of MTV Networks and Comedy Central, said that YouTube's "proposition that they will only protect copyrighted content if there's a business deal in place is unacceptable," somehow prefacing the lawsuit filed today.

In January, News Corp.�s Twentieth Century Fox subpoenaed YouTube, demanding it identify the user who uploaded pirated copies of recent episodes of "24" and "The Simpsons."

Also last month Viacom, the American media conglomerate, which has various worldwide interests in cable and satellite television networks, stroke a deal with Joost, the new star-up from Niklas Zellstrom and Ianus Friis, the two founders of Skype and Kazaa.

Author: Dan Nicolae Alexa
Source: http://www.playfuls.com/

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