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March 13, 2007
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has been telling just about anyone that would listen about the power of YouTube. In fact, he's gone on record in a number of settings and forums saying that content publishers are going to have to put their content on YouTube and other content-sharing websites. If you ask Schmidt, he'll tell you that YouTube has become so popular that content producers have "no choice" but to work with Google.
Well… I guess Viacom is proving that wrong. How about a billion dollar lawsuit?
According to Bloomberg.com, Viacom has filed suit against Google and YouTube for "massive intentional" copyright violations. Viacom, who demanded YouTube pull its content a few weeks ago, is seeking over $1 billion in damages. Viacom alleges that more than 160,000 clips from its content have been viewed more than a million times at YouTube.
When Viacom originally demanded YouTube remove its content, the video-sharing site said it complied. But a week later I was able to find Viacom-owned material on YouTube very easily. So I wondered how long it would be before these two were at it again.
This is a case of Google trying to throw its weight around in markets that it doesn't have as much weight in. Sure… when it comes to search engines, Google has some clout. But Google is not a media company… it is not a content publisher. Google's clout probably means very little to the people who control all of that video content.
Besides… who made Google "God" of all things online? I'm afraid their lofty attitude and ego-driven business practices are going to continue to get them in trouble. And if they're not careful, it could do serious, irreversible damage to their business.
More coverage by Reuters.
Comments:
3 Comments posted on "Viacom Sues Google For $1 Billion… I Guess They DO Have a Choice"
Headlines of Note for March 13, 2007 on March 13th, 2007 at 3:55 pm #
[…] Reaction to Viacom's $1 billion Lawsuit Against Google [Various sources] […]
Headlines of Note for March 14, 2007 on March 14th, 2007 at 3:59 pm #
[…] Mark Cuban raises some good points in his article. And the WebmasterWorld thread is a nice addition to what Matt said yesterday. Google's defense seems to be hinging on Safe Harbor-based excuse that it doesn't monitor or track user's activities on YouTube and therefore they wouldn't know that copyrighted material is on the site. Cuban challenges Eric Schmidt (in a way) to present his search history on YouTube. I think that's a great idea! I'll bet ya the kitchen sink that Schmidt (and others at Google) know full and well that YouTube is a mixed collection of user content and commercial content. Oh… and they're hosting and monetizing the stuff. Come on. […]
Headlines of Note for July 13, 2007 on July 13th, 2007 at 3:34 pm #
[…] He just showed up and started talking. A lot of what he had to say revolved around the upcoming lawsuit brought against his company by Viacom, which claims that Google-owned YouTube is a hotbed of illegal content. He did a lot of […] Post a comment
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