Ruling in Veoh Case Could Mean Blue Skies Ahead for YouTube

[WSJ_law_blog]

In a development that could portend some good news for Google-owned YouTube, a federal judge in San Jose has ruled that Veoh, the video-sharing service, isn’t liable for copyright infringement for material that was uploaded to its site. Here’s U.S. District Judge Howard Lloyd’s summary judgment opinion that dismisses a 2006 suit brought by Io Group, an adult-entertainment production company. And here’s a WSJ report.

Judge Lloyd ruled that Veoh qualifies for the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act because it doesn’t “actively participate or supervise the uploading of files. . . . Instead, video files are uploaded through an automated process which is initiated entirely at the volition of Veoh’s users.” He added that the evidence “demonstrates that, far from encouraging copyright infringement, Veoh has a strong DMCA policy, takes active steps to limit incidents of infringement on its website and works diligently to keep unauthorized works off its Web site.”

Meanwhile, Viacom is suing Google for $1 billion, alleging that YouTube has been illegally hosting its proprietary content. The spat, which awaits trial in the Southern District of New York, made headlines last month when Google opposed turning over data about its users to help Viacom build its case until a Judge ruled that Viacom must hand over the information.

So what might the Veoh ruling mean for Viacom, Google and YouTube? YouTube’s chief counsel, Zahavah Levine, was quick to trumpet the result in a statement: “It is great to see the Court confirm that the DMCA protects services like YouTube that follow the law and respect copyrights. YouTube has gone above and beyond the law to protect content owners while empowering people to communicate and share their experiences online.”

A spokesman for Viacom didn’t have an immediate comment.