Google to fight Viacom suit

According to the LA Times, Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt says he plans to aggressively fight a $1-billion lawsuit from entertainment company Viacom Inc., saying the technology company has been obeying the law with its YouTube video-sharing service.

"... Schmidt said the law was on Google's side. Viacom, which built itself up from a small chain of movie theaters into a major media conglomerate, was a company "built on lawsuits," he said.

"Look at their history," he added, referring to a series of legal battles Viacom engaged in to get access to movies from Hollywood studios when it was a much smaller company.

Viacom, based in New York, filed a $1-billion lawsuit against Google in March, saying almost 160,000 clips of Viacom TV shows such as South Park" and "The Colbert Report" were on YouTube without permission. Redstone wants Mountain View, Calif.-based Google to block YouTube users from sharing copyrighted material."

emily | 10:06 AM | Copypright Issues |
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