YouTube Wins Summary Judgment in Copyright Battle with Viacom

YouTube Wins Summary Judgment in Copyright Battle with Viacom

A judge granted Google’s YouTube motion for summary judgment in Viacom’s copyright lawsuit against the online video giant.

Viacom filed a $1 billion suit against YouTube back in March 2007.

The original complaint claimed 160,000 unauthorized clips were available on YouTube and those clips had been viewed 1.5 billion times.

This is hardly the end of this battle — Viacom says it’s going to appeal this ruling.

In the three years since the suit was filed YouTube has gone to great lengths to identify all the clips on its site and to monetize those clips for the content owners. While YouTube has gotten a range of media giants on board—from Disney to the Associated Press to CBS, Viacom has remained firm in its opposition.

Excerpted from Julia Boorstin’s article in CNBC’s Media Money. You can read the article in its entirety here.