Google Video Sued For Copyright Infringement

PadRacerExtreme writes to mention an Associated Press article about a lawsuit against Google Video over copyright infringement. The company provided no additional information about the case, which it disclosed in an SEC filing on Wednesday. Some analysts are viewing this as a preview of what may happen to the company after it completes its takeover of the YouTube site. From the article: "Because it indexes so much material owned by others, Google has become accustomed to fielding complaints about copyright infringement. Some of the disputes have triggered lawsuits for everything from Google's efforts to make digital copies of library books to its search engine's ability to display snippets of news stories and photos appearing on other Web sites. Those suits haven't become a big financial drain on Google yet, and investors so far appear confident the company's lawyers will minimize the damage from any claims brought on by the YouTube purchase."

Comments

Re:They should have waited

[Ariastis]

I believe what Google assument is that YouTube alone might end up being squashed by the lawsuits and lost a lot of its marketshare/value if it had to face lawsuits on its own (Since it was starting to lack funding). Also, YouTube might have been pressured to ink bad deals in the long term to fend off some of those lawsuits.

By buying it now, they decided to play it the other way around by dealing with the problems themselves, the Google Way, with all their ressources & influence backing up the dealmaking process.

While I agree this was a costly move, I believe it was a smart one to appropriate themselves the First Mover Advantage.