Today is a good day for Google. Not only are Android phones selling faster than expected, but it looks like the courts have dismissed Viacom’s lawsuit against YouTube.
Today, the court granted our motion for summary judgment in Viacom’s lawsuit with YouTube. This means that the court has decided that YouTube is protected by the safe harbor of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) against claims of copyright infringement. We’re extremely gratified by this decision and the now established judicial consensus that online services like YouTube are immune from liability when they work cooperatively with copyright holders to help them protect their rights online. (Official YouTube Blog)
Although YouTube has enacted a video ID system to locate and remove pirated videos, Viacom still sued the company (as well as Google by extension), claiming the company owed them $1 billion worth of copyright fees.
Unfortunately for Viacom, the US judge didn’t exactly see the lawsuit in the same light, and has dismissed the claim against YouTube (or more accurately decided Viacom case didn’t have any legal standing).
Although there is no word on whether Viacom will appeal the decision, either way it looks as if YouTube can keep the extra $1 billion for themselves, and instead use the money to compete against Hulu.
Originally posted on June 23, 2010 @ 4:52 pm