The Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers claimed that 29,549 video clips have been posted on YouTube without its permission, which the site has been forced to remove.
The news bolsters the argument put forward by critics of the recent acquisition by Google, which warned the video site was a copyright minefield. It’s been barely a fortnight since the deal went through, and many will see this as the first sign of a nightmare situation for Google, with swathes of lawyers launching copyright lawsuits at the site now that a super-rich dotcom giant will ultimately foot the bill of any court battles.
However, others will point to recently signed distribution deals with top media groups such as Universal Music Group, Warner Music and CBS, as evidence of a pre-emptive defence of such as situation on behalf of YouTube.