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YouTube Fires Back At Viacom

Posted by kdawson on from the whose-internet-is-it-anyway dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "As we say in the legal profession, 'issue has been joined' in Viacom v. YouTube. In its answer to Viacom's complaint (PDF), filed Friday, YouTube says Viacom's lawsuit is intended to 'challenge... the protections of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") that Congress enacted a decade ago to encourage the development of services like YouTube.' It goes on to say that the suit 'threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment, and political and artistic expression.'"

2 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Too bad by dunezone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Even if Viacom were to win this, they would still be losing out.

    Where is the first place I go to find clips of a show? Youtube. After that I head off to google in hopes of finding it somewhere else.

    Would I go over to Comedy Centrals website? SpikeTV? MTV? No, because these sites are cluttered with garbage and intrusive AD supported video players. I usually get lost at these sites anyway.

    Also, I'm 22, the perfect demographic for these opportunities and you've seem to have alienated us over the years with your garbage websites.

  2. Viacom's case by TheRedSeven · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Viacom's case seems to be based on the fact that it's too hard for them to keep up with all the copyright infringing materials posted on YouTube, and therefore YouTube should bear the burden of distinguishing what is and is not infringing. This is just silly. The burden under the DMCA is clearly on the part of the copyright holder, and that's the only thing that makes sense for companies who simply offer services of hosting.

    The only other point Viacom has is that YouTube transfers all video into their own 'proprietary' format and then 'copies' it (by which, I assume, they mean "show it on multiple instances of XYZ web browser"--or maybe backups). This is akin to saying that WordPress has its own proprietary format for blogs, by which it copies and distributes information. What a joke!

    And things get funny toward the end of the response, too. YouTube denies point #24, which reads:

    Defendant YouTube, Inc., is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in San Bruno, California.
    If you can't even get that right, you may as well just give up!

    My prediction (and hope) is that Viacom loses this one quickly and effectively.