On March 13, 2001 Viacom International, Inc. filed a 1 Billion dollar lawsuit against Google and their offshoot YouTube for what their attorneys claimed was “brazen” and “massive” case of copyright infringement. In their suit, Viacom stated that by allowing users to upload copyrighted material owned by Viacom for public viewing by their users, YouTube had infringed on its copyrights. Viacom further stated, that YouTube encouraged the dissemination of their copy-written material.

From: Negotiations in the Entertainment Industry

By: Marjorie DeHey, JD/MBA

For over 15 years, Ms. DeHey has held high-level positions in marketing, business development and corporate strategy for a number of small and large companies, including MGM Studios, the Miss Universe organization, MEF (formerly the Mobile Entertainment Forum), MediaMojos, the Irish government, and LexisNexis.

Ms. DeHey has been named one of “The 25 Women to Watch” by Mobile Marketer Magazine (http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/lib…) and was recently inducted in the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

In the CLE class clip, Ms. DeHey discusses the Viacom vs YouTube copyright lawsuit.

Viacom alleged that shows such as “South Park” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” were on YouTube without permission. Movies from Viacom’s Paramount Pictures film studio were on YouTube without permission as well.

Google however, argued that it had removed infringing videos when notified. Google countered with their own allegations, stating that Viacom uploaded its own videos to YouTube in order to promote its programs. YouTube said Viacom couldn’t tell which videos were unauthorized and which were not.

For more on Viacom vs YouTube copyright lawsuit, by Ms. DeHey, check out the full CLE video clip by myLawCLE.com