International Herald Tribune
03-14-2007
Viacom, the parent of MTV and Comedy Central, sued Google and YouTube in federal court for $1 billion in damages Tuesday in the most aggressive move so far by an old-line media company against the highly popular but legally questionable practice of posting copyrighted media content online.Viacom has feuded publicly with YouTube and its parent, Google, about the unauthorized posting of its programming online. The lawsuit cited ''massive intentional copyright infringement'' and accused YouTube of a ''brazen disregard'' for the law. ''YouTube has harnessed technology to willfully infringe copyrights on a huge scale, depriving writers, composers and performers of the rewards they are owed,'' Viacom said. Google said it was undaunted by the lawsuit and ''confident that YouTube has respected the legal rights of copyright holders.'' It added, ''We will certainly not let this suit become a distraction to the continuing growth and strong performance of YouTube.''The suit is the latest step in the dispute between YouTube and Viacom. Last month, Viacom demanded that YouTube remove more than 100,000 clips. YouTube complied, and in some cases posted a disclaimer that read, ''Removed at the request of Viacom International.'' ''Viacom is taking a very strong stance,'' said James Goss of Barrington Research in Chicago.''The issue is control over what you own. With the lawsuit, they want to draw a line in the sand.'' Viacom said that nearly 160,000 clips of its programming had been available on YouTube and that they had been viewed more than 1.5 billion times.Before Viacom ordered YouTube to take down the video, the two had been working toward an agreement. Many of Viacom's shows, like Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show'' and MTV's stable of reality television programs, are highly popular with the young YouTube demographic and are potentially worth a large sum if licensed to an online video service. But the two companies have been unable to reach a deal.Google has promised new technology to help identify pirated videos uploaded by users, but the company has not given a firm timetable for its introduction.''If there's anything central to Google's business model, it is being at the center of everything,'' said James McQuivey of Forrester Research. ''This has the potential to put them on the periphery.'' Shares of Google, the world's most-used search engine, fell $11.72, or 3 percent, to $443.03 in afternoon trading in New York. Shares of Viacom, which owns MTV Networks and Nickelodeon, rose 5 cents to $39.50Viacom's suit acknowledges the value of its programming to YouTube, noting that its content ''acts as a substantial draw, attracting users to the Web site.''YouTube is supported by advertising, but in most cases it does not share that revenue with copyright holders. It has been pursuing licensing agreements with other major U.S. media companies but has so far been unable to do so. YouTube is forming partnerships with hundreds of smaller media companies.Other old-line media companies have also had disputes with YouTube over copyrights. Some, including CBS and NBC Universal, have reached deals to license their material. CBS used to be part of Viacom but has split off into a separate company. In a separate case, Universal Music Group, a unit of Vivendi, had threatened to sue YouTube, saying it was a hub for illegally copied music videos. But it, too, later reached a licensing deal. Viacom and peers like NBC Universal, in which Vivendi owns a minority interest, are also investing heavily in their own Internet video sites in an effort to benefit from the migration of television audiences to the Web. ''Viacom's Web traffic is increasing nicely since it pulled content from 'GooTube,''' said Richard Greenfield of Pali Capital.
2007 Copyright International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com
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