Viacom accused of polluting YouTube

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 19 Mar 2010 at 09:42

Google has claimed that Viacom uploaded copyrighted content to YouTube, even after suing the site for infringement.

The recently unsealed court documents cover the ongoing legal fight between Viacom and YouTube, which stands accused of turning a blind eye to the uploading of copyrighted videos in a bid to attract viewers. Viacom – which owns MTV and Comedy Central - is seeking $1 billion in damages.

However, Google has alleged that Viacom was complicit in uploading these clips to the site. “Notwithstanding its litigation claims, Viacom has embraced YouTube to advance its business,” Google claimed in the documents.

Viacom employees and dozens of separate third-party marketing agencies working on its behalf have posted a host of clips from Viacom television programs and movies to YouTube

“Viacom employees and dozens of separate third-party marketing agencies working on its behalf have posted a host of clips from Viacom television programs and movies to YouTube,” said the company.

“Viacom even sought to purchase YouTube, after Viacom’s ‘best minds’ concluded that it would be a ‘transformative acquisition’ for Viacom. To the frustration of many within the company, Viacom’s efforts to acquire YouTube proved unsuccessful,” the documents added.

After Google stepped in to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion in early 2006, the company claims Viacom abandoned content partnership negotiations and turned to “strong arm tactics to push for significantly better terms”.

At the heart of these efforts was a “dramatic” mass takedown order for thousands of clips which Viacom allegedly monitored for months rather than report individually.

“Despite Viacom’s apparent expectations that YouTube’s traffic would decrease and traffic to Viacom’s own websites would soar after those videos were removed, neither prediction came true,” reported Google.

Viacom’s vitriol

Google wasn’t the only company slinging allegations, however, with Viacom claiming the unsealed documents "provide the evidence that YouTube intentionally operated as a haven for massive copyright infringement."

"By [YouTube's] own admission, the site contained 'truckloads' of infringing content and founder Steve Chen explained that YouTube needed to 'steal' videos because those videos make 'our traffic soar,'" said Viacom.

As part of its evidence, the media giant provided excerpts from emails in 2005 between YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim.

"We're going to have a tough time defending the fact that we're not liable for the copyrighted material on the site because we didn't put it up when one of the co-founders is blatantly stealing content from other sites and trying to get everyone to see it," Chen wrote to Karim.