Viacom and Google Should Share the Load
source: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2008/tc20080527_055240.htm?chan=top+news_t...
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by Catherine Holahan// BusinessWeek
Viacom's suit seeks a better way to remove copyright-violating YouTube uploads. Why don't content creators and Web sites both foot the bill?
To hear Google (GOOG) tell it, Viacom (VIA) wants to unravel the social Web. If Viacom had its druthers, Web sites that rely on user-generated content would be held responsible when users upload material that violates copyrights, Google argues in a public response to Viacom's $1 billion lawsuit accusing Google of copyright infringement.
The implication, Google argues, is that services like video-sharing site YouTube would have trouble getting off the ground. "Viacom's lawsuit challenges the protections of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that Congress enacted a decade ago to encourage the development of services like YouTube," Google wrote in its May 26 response. "Congress recognized that such services could not and would not exist if they faced liability for copyright infringement based on materials users uploaded to their services."
Google is only partly right. It's true that doing away with certain DMCA protections—such as those that shield Internet companies from liability for distributed content—would indeed hamper many sites. After all, it's nearly impossible for companies to ensure that all the videos, photos, comments, and other content uploaded to sites don't violate copyrights. Even if such omniscient content screening were possible, it would undoubtedly be cost-prohibitive for all but the largest players.
But Viacom isn't looking to dismantle the DMCA, though its suit does point to a major flaw in the law that Web sites and media companies both must address: what to do when infringing content is taken down but then immediately put back online. "Even after it [YouTube] receives a notice from a copyright owner, in many instances the very same infringing video remains on YouTube because it was uploaded by at least one other user, or appears on YouTube again within hours of its removal," Viacom says in its complaint...
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Full story at link.
Viacom's suit seeks a better way to remove copyright-violating YouTube uploads. Why don't content creators and Web sites both foot the bill?
To hear Google (GOOG) tell it, Viacom (VIA) wants to unravel the social Web. If Viacom had its druthers, Web sites that rely on user-generated content would be held responsible when users upload material that violates copyrights, Google argues in a public response to Viacom's $1 billion lawsuit accusing Google of copyright infringement.
The implication, Google argues, is that services like video-sharing site YouTube would have trouble getting off the ground. "Viacom's lawsuit challenges the protections of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that Congress enacted a decade ago to encourage the development of services like YouTube," Google wrote in its May 26 response. "Congress recognized that such services could not and would not exist if they faced liability for copyright infringement based on materials users uploaded to their services."
Google is only partly right. It's true that doing away with certain DMCA protections—such as those that shield Internet companies from liability for distributed content—would indeed hamper many sites. After all, it's nearly impossible for companies to ensure that all the videos, photos, comments, and other content uploaded to sites don't violate copyrights. Even if such omniscient content screening were possible, it would undoubtedly be cost-prohibitive for all but the largest players.
But Viacom isn't looking to dismantle the DMCA, though its suit does point to a major flaw in the law that Web sites and media companies both must address: what to do when infringing content is taken down but then immediately put back online. "Even after it [YouTube] receives a notice from a copyright owner, in many instances the very same infringing video remains on YouTube because it was uploaded by at least one other user, or appears on YouTube again within hours of its removal," Viacom says in its complaint...
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Full story at link.
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J_Jammer [removed]
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Can not TV/Movie Industry learn from the Music Industries horrible mess with Napster?
Don't hate new technology, use it to your advantage. Promote.
- 4 years ago
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J_Jammer [removed]
