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May 15th, 2007

YouTube copyright lawsuits mount: Who needs Google?

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 8:44 am

Categories: Google, Video, YouTube

Tags: Google Inc., Lawsuit, YouTube Inc., Donna Bogatin

In Focus » See more posts on: Google YouTube

The Google YouTube lawsuits for massive copyright infringement are coming at a fast and furious pace.

The latest, as reported by Bloomberg News:

"Google Inc.'s YouTube unit was sued by David Grisman, a mandolin player who once performed with the Grateful Dead, over what he says are unauthorized postings of his music, the latest suit against the popular video-sharing site. Grisman, his partner Craig Miller and their company Dawg Music sued Google and YouTube May 10 in federal court in San Francisco."

On the one-week anniversary of the class action lawsuit filed in New York, I presented my exclusive insider interview Friday with the lead prosecuters Proskauer Rose in Google at Risk: YouTube class action lawsuit changes DMCA copyright game. The plaintiff argument is a compelling one and underscores how Google’s YouTube business model is in direct contradiction with the spirit of DMCA 512C.

WILL GOOGLE YOUTUBE GET THE MESSAGE? HOW MANY MORE LAWSUITS WILL IT TAKE?

Google is not doing any copyright owner a favor with its supposed "free" promotion at YouTube, as the non-stop lawsuits illustrate. Google WILL inevitably pay up for the use of the property of others, one way or another.

YouTube has a "massive arsenal of misappropriated copyrighted material" and a "deliberate strategy" to promote copyright infringement, the complaint contends. The suit seeks cash to compensate copyright owners for past infringement and a court order to force YouTube to change the way it does business.

Google and YouTube "pay lip-service to a purported desire to avoid violating intellectual property laws," the complaint says. "In reality, however, they deliberately refuse to take meaningful steps to deter the rampant infringing activity readily apparent on YouTube which would, in turn, have a negative impact on the advertising and other reviews and other value achieved through the large volume of traffic on the YouTube Web site."

YouTube unrest is mounting from all sides, as I discussed earlier today: YouTube to video artists: Wolf in sheep’s clothing?

Donna Bogatin has been probing the business heart of the Internet for more than ten years. Don't miss a single post. Subscribe via Email or RSS. Got news? Send Donna your pitch. Find out more at Donna's Website: InsiderChatter.com. For disclosures on Donna's industry affiliations, click here.
  • Talkback
  • Most Recent of 29 Talkback(s)
Google is not to blame
Google did not post the videos with copywriten content. YouTube users are the ones breaking the law. Google has only made it possible for them to do it in a more public way.... (Read the rest)
Posted by: BryrMos Posted on: 08/19/08 You are currently: a Guest | | Terms of Use
No innocents in DMCA disputes  none none | 05/15/07
Ridiculous  Mectron | 05/15/07
But...  rapson | 05/15/07
Re: But...  none none | 05/15/07
Re: Re: But...  none none | 05/15/07
10 min or 100MB  yu_forum@... | 05/19/07
The law suits are piling up so fast  No_Ax_to_Grind | 05/15/07
Google only has to win one  tic swayback | 05/15/07
Or lose only one  No_Ax_to_Grind | 05/15/07
Re: Or lose only one  none none | 05/15/07
They'll drag each one out for years  tic swayback | 05/15/07
So stupid  ccrashh2@... | 05/15/07
Proof...  Stuka | 05/15/07
oh yeah....  Stuka | 05/15/07
one more thing  yu_forum@... | 05/19/07
Really?  combrink | 05/15/07
Not Entirely  Stuka | 05/15/07
Viacom  combrink | 05/15/07
Not quite  tic swayback | 05/15/07
Re: Not Entirely  none none | 05/15/07
I disagree  yu_forum@... | 05/19/07
Re: Really?  none none | 05/15/07
The law IS clear, try opening your eyes.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 05/15/07
Indeed it is clear  Edward Meyers | 05/16/07
Down with YouTube!  BIGELLOW | 05/15/07
People Dont kill  combrink | 05/16/07
Poor David Grisman  owidder | 05/16/07
Message has been deleted.  yu_forum@... | 05/19/07
Google is not to blame  BryrMos | 08/19/08

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