YouTube Slapped with Mediaset Lawsuit

ROME, July 31: Mediaset
has filed a 500 million euros lawsuit against YouTube, following the legal
victory by Spanish broadcaster Telecinco—in which it is a majority
shareholder—in a similar suit against the video-sharing site.

Mediaset said yesterday
that it had filed a claim in a Rome civil court for illegal commercial use of more
than 325 hours of content. The Italian media conglomerate maintains that 4,643
clips of its content were found on YouTube last month.

Mediaset said in a
statement that given the amount of unauthorized content on the site “it is
possible to establish that the group's three Italian television channels have
lost 315,672 viewing days.”

Mediaset is seeking 500
million euros in damages, and wants additional compensation “resulting from the
loss of advertising revenues from programs illegally distributed on the web.”

YouTube said in a
statement that it "respects copyright holders and takes copyright issues
very seriously. There is no need for legal action and all the associated
costs.”

—By Mansha Daswani