• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, October 1, 2008

Fresh off a victory over adult entertainment company Io Group, video site Veoh is asking a federal judge to rule in its favor in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by music giant Universal Music Group.

In papers filed in federal district court in Los Angeles this week, the Michael Eisner-backed Veoh argues that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's "safe harbor" provisions immunize the company from liability for copyright infringement committed by users. Last month a federal magistrate in San Jose, Calif. ruled in Veoh's favor on a similar issue.

The dispute between UMG and Veoh dates back to last year, when Veoh went to court seeking a declaration that its service was lawful. UMG then sued Veoh for copyright infringement. Last month, UMG added Veoh investors Shelter Venture Fund, Spark Capital and The Tornante Company (founded by Eisner) as defendants.

UMG alleges that Veoh "is a massive copyright infringer that has built its business on the back of others' intellectual property." The record company charges that Veoh is "following in the footsteps of infamous pioneers of mass piracy on the Internet such as Napster" by enabling users to upload and share copyrighted clips.

In its motion this week, Veoh argues that it is immune from liability under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's safe harbor provisions because it removes infringing material upon request of the owner. Veoh also says it deploys filtering technology in an attempt to screen out copyrighted material before it appears on the site.

In addition, Veoh alleges that UMG did not disclose which clips it objected to until long after litigation commenced. "Promptly after Veoh filed this lawsuit, Veoh's counsel wrote to plaintiffs' counsel and explained that if plaintiffs would simply identify which videos they contended were infringing, Veoh would promptly take appropriate action," the company wrote in its motion. "In response, plaintiffs still refused to identify any infringing videos and instead insisted that Veoh should be able to figure out on its own which UMG 'content' is on its site."

Although feuding with UMG, the video site has forged deals with other entertainment companies, including the television networks CBS, ABC and WB. This week, Veoh launched three ad-supported channels from Warner Bros. Television Group, which offer full-length episodes of shows like "Smallville," "Friends" and "The O.C."