Citing "unproductive" settlement talks and knowing and persistent copyright infringement from which it generates profit, Viacom Inc. has sued Google and its YouTube unit for more than $1 billion in
damages. The media giant, which filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, is also seeking an injunction that would prevent Google and YouTube from further copyright
infringement.
From Viacom's complaint: "The availability on the YouTube site of a vast library of the copyrighted works of Plaintiffs and others is the cornerstone of Defendants'
business plan. YouTube deliberately built up a library of infringing works to draw traffic to the YouTube site, enabling it to gain a commanding market share, earn significant revenues, and increase
its enterprise value."
Further, Viacom claims there are more than 160,000 unauthorized clips of Viacom programming on YouTube and that settlement talks have been "unproductive,"
despite Viacom ordering that its content be removed. The media giant said its clips have been streamed more than 1.5 billion times, and the company demands compensation.
Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »