YouTube defeats copyright lawsuit

Google has won a long-standing legal dispute with Viacom over the inclusion of a range of video clips on YouTube.

According to the Financial Times, Viacom initiated legal action in 2007 alleging that thousands of video clips had been uploaded to YouTube without its permission, constituting “massive copyright infringement.”

A New York federal court ruled yesterday that no legal provisions had been violated due to the fact that Google has a policy of removing all such videos after being alerted. Unless a website refuses to remove content after it is flagged then it is protected by law.

Viacom had originally sought around $1 billion in recompense.