Viacom to Appeal YouTube Ruling

NEW YORK, June 24: Viacom has said that a judge’s decision to dismiss its $1-billion copyright infringement suit against YouTube is "flawed" and intends to appeal the ruling.

U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton sided with the video-sharing site in the case, arguing that YouTube is protected by the safe-harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which mandates that if a service provider removes pirated material once notified, it isn’t liable for copyright infringement.

Viacom calling the ruling flawed and announced its intention to lodge an appeal with the Second Circuit Appeals Court as soon as possible. Michael Fricklas, Viacom’s executive VP, general counsel and secretary, noted: "YouTube and Google demonstrated that required tools to limit piracy aren’t impossible to find or even that difficult to implement—they fixed the problem of rampant piracy on YouTube after Viacom filed this lawsuit. Before that, however, YouTube and Google stole hundreds of thousands of video clips from artists and content creators, including Viacom, building a substantial business that was sold for billions of dollars. We believe that should not be allowed by law or common sense. This case has always been about whether intentional theft of copyrighted works is permitted under existing law and we always knew that the critical underlying issue would need to be addressed by courts at the appellate levels. Today’s decision accelerates our opportunity to do so."

Kent Walker, VP and general counsel at YouTube, meanwhile, calling the ruling an "important victory" for both YouTube and 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."