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$US1 Billion suit against Google, YouTube for alleged Infringement of Copyright

Online video provider YouTube and its parent company, Google, are being hit with a $US1 billion law suit for infringing media company Viacom International’s copyright.

Almost 160,000 unauthorised Viacom video clips are available for viewing by the general public on YouTube. The 27 page law suit filed by Viacom in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York alleges that the infringing clips have been viewed on YouTube more than 1.5 billion times.

Viacom accuses YouTube of harnessing “technology to willfully infringe copyrights on a huge scale, depriving writers, composers and performers of rewards they are owed for effort and innovation, reducing the incentives of America’s creative industries, and profiting from the illegal conduct of others as well.”

It has been reported that YouTube claims ‘safe harbour’ status under the United State’s Digital Millenium Copyright Act (1998). The ‘safe harbour’ has been designed to protect search engines, web hosts and ISPs. This claim may be put to the test if the matter proceeds before the Court.

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