Landmark decision clears Google of copyright infringement in YouTube case

Viacom’s $1 billion legal battle with Google, over YouTube’s hosting of allegedly copyright infringing video clips, has come to a landmark conclusion.

The lawsuit was thrown out after a judge found the search engine giant’s video site had not breached the ‘safe harbor’ provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

This enables online sites like YouTube to avoid liability if not given sufficient notice of the infringing material.

In a comment on their company blog, Google said the ruling will have a huge impact on the online communications world.

This is an important victory not just for us, but also for the billions of people around the world who use the web to communicate and share experiences with each other. We’re excited about this decision and look forward to renewing our focus on supporting the incredible variety of ideas and expression that billions of people post and watch on YouTube every day around the world.

Reporting on the ruling on their news feed, Viacom say they will appeal the decision.

We believe that this ruling by the lower court is fundamentally flawed and contrary to the language of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the intent of Congress, and the views of the Supreme Court as expressed in its most recent decisions. We intend to seek to have these issues before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as soon as possible.

See the full ruling below, courtesy of Scribd.com.

Read an analysis of the ruling here….

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