Federal Court Revives Landmark $1 Billion Viacom vs. YouTube Case

In a potentially costly setback for Google, a federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that its YouTube video site must once again defend itself from a $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Hollywood giant Viacom. The decision revives one of the most important Internet intellectual property cases of the last decade — a dispute that became a flashpoint in the ongoing struggle over copyright between big content companies and internet giants.


“This as a big loss for YouTube,” says Eric Goldman, Director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law. “Viacom has to be jubilant. If nothing else they’ve pinned down YouTube for millions more money and months if not years of more litigation, when their case had been ruled dead.”        Read More