I’ve long been disillusioned with Viacom and it’s child companies, especially after CBS/UPN canceled such great shows as Enterprise and Joan of Arcadia, despite massive Fan support. Today, Viacom proves yet again that it doesn’t care about the interest of it’s viewers, Viacom has filed a lawsuit against Google for $1 billion dollars.
The story goes, that according to Viacom, over a hundred thousand Viacom copyrighted materials have been viewed on Google owned YouTube over a million and a half times. The problem with Viacom’s claim though is that they believe it is Google’s fault for allowing the clips to be uploaded in the first place. YouTube wouldn’t work if it weren’t for allowing clips to be uploaded, and YouTube has long had a mechanism in place where if a copyright owner complains, they will pull down the copyrighted content quickly.
I decided to look up the lawsuit to see the information on this suit is available. I did a Search for Viacom on Justia Federal Court Filings and Dockets, and found Viacom International, Inc. et al v. Youtube, Inc. et al, case 1:2007cv02103, filed March 13th, 2007 in the New York Southern Federal District Court, Foley Square Office.