Viacom v. YouTube

Analysis Of Google And Viacom’s Arguments Over YouTube: A Lot Of He Said/She Said | Techdirt is a nice analysis of the Viacom v. Google copyright infringement suit as it currently stands. The article leans heavily toward Google’s side of the argument.

Viacom vs. YouTube Unsealed! YouTube’s Steve Chen on Copyrighted Content: ‘Steal It!’ is a nice analysis of Viacom v. Google. The article leans heavily toward Viacom’s position.

This case tests the Title II of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA). OCILLA provides ISPs with a “safe harbor” from a copyright infringement suit provided the ISP follows the guidelines. In the current case, Viacom, a motion picture studio that has produced many popular films, has sued YouTube, an ISP that hosts user-posted video content, some of which is taken directly from Viacom’s movies. YouTube is using OCILLA to say it has no responsibility to Viacom after following the statutory guidelines.

The question is whether YouTube actually followed the safe harbor guidelines. To get to that answer, the case must determine just how much knowledge of infringement on the part of the ISP is too much knowledge. Should YouTube, sua sponte, have taken down the copyrighted materials even before Viacom complained to them about the infringement by YouTube users?

The two blog posts cited here give you the summary judgment motions of both parties

Me, I tend toward Viacom’s side in this one. The presence of what I know to be copyrighted materials on YouTube has always bugged me.