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Google Responds to Viacom's $1B YouTube Suit By Frederick Lane May 1, 2007 9:09AM Google's defense against the $1 billion Viacom lawsuit lies in its argument that while YouTube encourages users to upload videos, it is a violation of YouTube's Terms of Service for people to upload videos they do not own. Google also maintains that it provides copyright holders with tools to protect their content on YouTube.   Related Topics YouTube Google Viacom DMCA Copyright Digital Video Latest News Endeavour Inspected for Damage Autism Risk for Kids of Older Mothers Go Online and You Can Save the Planet In Haiti, Relief Gaps Are Spreading U.S. To Form Climate-Change Agency On Monday, Google filed its response to Viacom's $1 billion lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Although the 12-page answer is concise and reveals little of Google's planned trial strategy, the document opened with a sweeping rejection of Viacom's view of the online world. "By seeking to make carriers and hosting providers liable for Internet communications ," Google told the court, "Viacom's complaint threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment, and political and artistic expression." Google said that it respects the importance of intellectual property rights, as does its recently purchased subsidiary, YouTube, and added that both companies "go well above and beyond what the law requires." Not surprisingly, Viacom was unimpressed with Google's answer. "This response," Viacom alleged in a brief statement released later on Monday, "ignores the most important fact of the suit, which is that YouTube does not qualify for safe harbor protection under the DMCA. It is obvious that YouTube has knowledge of infringing material on their site, and they are profiting from it." Searching for a Safe Harbor For those planning to follow the Viacom/Google/YouTube dispute, the words "safe harbor" will become a familiar phrase. In 1998, the United States passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which amended U.S. copyright laws to conform to two World Intellectual Property Organization treaties. Among other things, the DMCA heightened the penalties for copyright infringement on the Internet. At the same time, however, Congress adopted the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA), which provides various protections for online service providers (including ISPs) from copyright violations that stem from the actions of their customers or contributors. These protections, known collectively as a "safe harbor," are only available to online service providers that promptly limit or remove access to copyrighted material when they are notified of the infringement. The crux of Google's defense lies in its argument that while YouTube encourages users to upload videos, it is a violation of the site's Terms of Service for people to upload videos they do not own. Google also said in its answer that it provides copyright holders with several tools to identify and protect their content from infringement on YouTube. Opening Salvos in a Long Battle Viacom filed suit against Google on March 13. In a press release issued at the time, the media giant said "YouTube is a significant, for-profit organization that has built a lucrative business out of exploiting the devotion of fans to others' creative works in order to enrich itself and its corporate parent Google." In the intervening weeks, Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced that Google and YouTube will be rolling out additional tools to assist content producers in protecting their copyrighted works. For the time being, however, Google's answer to Viacom makes it clear that the company firmly believes YouTube's actions are well within the DMCA's "safe harbor." A scheduling conference in the case has been set for July 27.   Tell Us What You Think Your Comment: Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com Advertisement  Digital Life 1.   Macworld Focuses on Mobile Apps 2.   Nexus One 'Support' Passes the Buck 3.   New Zealand Virgin Auctions Herself 4.   Google May Make Gmail More Social 5.   Analysts Expect iPad Price To Drop Sony Ericsson Unveils Aspen Handset Windows Mobile unit comes with Skype. Average Rating: Books on Social-Media Marketing Cost-effective ways to engage clients. Average Rating: Torrent Traps Used To Harvest Logins Web sites sold with backdoor access. Average Rating:

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