Today Viacom announced that they were filling against YouTube “for massive intentional copyright infringement of Viacom’s entertainment properties.”
The suit seeks more than $1 billion in damages, as well as an injunction prohibiting Google and YouTube from further copyright infringement. The complaint contends that almost 160,000 unauthorized clips of Viacom’s programming have been available on YouTube and that these clips had been viewed more than 1.5 billion times.
Do read Viacom’s full statement.
As you know, Viacom and YouTube broke off the negotiations about the now famous 100 000 clips.
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This is part of an aggressive strategy of Viacom to tap into Google’s financial ressources. In a way, Google’s acquisition of YouTube has made this action possible. On facts alone, it is absolutely unquestionable. It will mark a turning point in the UGC business. Anyone won’t be able to post anything anymore. It will contribute to clean up the market and push the UGC players towards more quality and new business models. New openings will show for the CurrentTV, Brightcove and other Eyeka. What do you think?