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YouTube wins again in Viacom copyright case

April 19, 2013

South-Park
Viacom’s South Park

A federal judge has thrown out Viacom’s lawsuit accusing Google of posting its programmes on YouTube without permission, a year after a federal appeals court had revived the landmark copyright infringement case.

A New York Judge agreed that Google and YouTube were protected from Viacom’s copyright claims by the “safe harbor” provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Viacom said it plans to appeal. “This ruling ignores the opinions of the higher courts and completely disregards the rights of creative artists,” spokesman Jeremy Zweig said.”A jury should weigh the facts of this case and the overwhelming evidence that YouTube willfully infringed.”

Kent Walker, Google’s general counsel, welcomed the decision. “Congress got it right when it comes to copyright on the Internet,” he said. “This is a win not just for YouTube, but for people everywhere who depend on the Internet to exchange ideas and information.”

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