The legal claws come out — old media suing new media
March 13, 2007Let’s get it on–Viacom has filed a billion-dollar lawsuit against Google, over copyright infringement on Google’s YouTube service. It seemed inevitable that one of the big old media companies was going to take out the legal dagger and try to force changes at YouTube. And Viacom seems like a good candidate, their Comedy Central clips are one of the biggest fuels for YouTube traffic.
It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. Often these lawsuits are just a way to force a negotiated settlement, but Viacom has been making a lot of angry noises lately about YouTube. This may be the real deal, not a negotiating ploy.
The clips on YouTube though are often pretty short, I wonder if they aren’t covered by fair use somehow? You’re allowed to show clips of somebody’s work if the idea is that you’re making political or comedic commentary about the work.
I guess the lawyers will decide. Both sides in this fight are very well heeled, so they can afford to get the best representation and really duke it out in court. Can’t wait.