Viacom's $1 Billion Suit Against YouTube Returns

Is it "so long" to the Internet video jukebox we've all come to know, love, and rely upon?

Viacom hopes so, as a federal appeals court has revived a $1 billion lawsuit the media company levied against YouTube five years ago, according to The Associated Press.

Viacom alleged that YouTube knew it was infringing rights when it allowed users to upload copyrighted content like television shows, according to reports.

YouTube has signed agreements with many companies to share content, such as movies from Viacom's own Paramount Pictures.

Other parties like the England-based Football Association joined in on the suit. Official clips of FA action are one thing; user-uploaded content, however, break the FA's rules, it claims.

 Google, which bought YouTube for $1.76 billion in 2006, hopes that the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act shields companies from such broad claims.

The panel of judges at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City ruled that a jury might agree with Viacom, but YouTube nonetheless hailed the mixed ruling as a victory, according to the report.

A lower court ruled that the Digital  Millennium Copyright Act holds a party like YouTube responsible for copyright infringement only when it knows of a violation. The Web site's policy of removing copyrighted content following receipt of a complaint may shield it from liability.

Yet there are recorded instances of YouTube choosing to delay removing clips, or being aware that copyrighted content is online and not making a move until a complaint.
 

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