05-01-2007, 07:23 AM
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#1
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there's no $$$ in porn
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: icq: 195./568.-230 (btw: not getting offline msgs)
Posts: 33,063
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Google prepares to defend content theft
Quote:
Google prepares to defend YouTube use
Google agrees with Viacom on two points: Google spent $1.65 billion to buy YouTube last year and YouTube is popular.
Beyond that, Google Inc. said in a court filing Monday that it will fight for its digital rights against media giant Viacom Inc. in what could be a landmark battle over how digital content is shared and viewed on the Internet.
"We feel very strongly about our legal position and we are ready to take it to court," said Catherine Lacavera, Google's litigation counsel. "They are making allegations of copyright infringement and we are denying them."
Viacom sued the search giant and its video-sharing site YouTube for $1 billion in damages in New York federal court in March, claiming that the site was enriching Google through the unauthorized posting of Viacom entertainment by YouTube users.
Monday, Google responded with fighting words, saying that it goes "above and beyond what the law requires" to settle copyright disputes. It also disclosed that it has hired a Chicago law firm, Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP, with a reputation for courtroom battles.
Bartlit Beck represents Merck & Co. in defending the painkiller Vioxx. Last year, the firm, led by partner Phil Beck, won four of five federal cases for Merck.
Bartlit Beck confirmed it will work for Google but offered no comment. "We are very excited about their participation," said a Google spokesman.
Viacom sued Google because as the owner of shows ranging from "South Park" to "SpongeBob SquarePants," it had tired of its content being posted by YouTube users and therefore readily available for anyone to watch for free.
"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," Viacom said in March after the suit was announced. In the suit, Viacom said it "identified more than 150,000 unauthorized clips of their copyrighted programming on YouTube that had been viewed an astounding 1.5 billion times."
Viacom declined to comment on Google's response, filed late Monday, saying it had yet to see the document.
Google said Viacom's suit "challenges the careful balance established by Congress when it enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act." Also, "Viacom's complaint threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment, and political and artistic expression."
The DMCA was passed in 1998 and it requires Web sites to take down copyrighted material if the copyright holder makes that request. Doing so will give that site "safe harbor" under the law.
Google said it complies with its "safe-harbor obligations."
Not everyone thinks this digital-rights battle will reach the courthouse.
"This is most likely a negotiating tactic for Google," said Brian Bolan, director of research for Chicago's Jackson Securities, which currently has a "buy" recommendation on Google. "I don't doubt they are serious, they have the money for the best legal representation, but I think this is positioning themselves for an actual settlement offer."
Also, Google would have a lot to lose, he points out.
"Losing would have long-term repercussions," Bolan said. "Other content-holders would have a strong position against Google. It's like ... with Napster, when everyone said trading [copyrighted] music files really doesn't matter.
"Then the lawsuits started coming from the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and you saw Napster fall apart," he said.
"If you no longer have access to view video on YouTube, or the clone sites, are the sites going to go away? I imagine Google will draw it out as long as they need to make sure there is some sort of settlement."
The next step in the process comes in July, when the judge hearing the case in a New York federal court schedules a case management conference, the Google spokesman said. That hearing will generally determine the time frame of the case.
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src: http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...i-business-hed |
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