Claiming copyright infringement, Viacom filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York against YouTube, seeking $1 billion in damages.
In the suit, Viacom, which owns such properties as Comedy Central, VH1, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures, charged that YouTube has displayed more than 160,000 unauthorized video clips from its various cable networks and movie operations.
Viacom had been in negotiations with YouTube to find an amicable solution to the problem, but last month Viacom demanded that YouTube remove more than 100,000 unauthorized clips from its site when talks broke down.
YouTube said at the time that it cooperates with all requests from copyright holders, and removes content as soon as it receives notification of an unauthorized clip.
Viacom charged that YouTube has “built a lucrative business out of exploiting the devotion of fans to others’ creative works in order to enrich itself and its corporate parent Google.”
Viacom also claimed that YouTube’s business model, which generates revenue based on ads, is “clearly illegal and is in obvious conflict with copyright laws.”
The suit marks a watershed moment in a long-running controversy between YouTube and various media companies. Critics of YouTube charge that it serves only as a tool for copyright infringement. But until now no major media players have filed copyright claims against the company.
When YouTube was an independently owned company, Internet maverick Mark Cuban said the only reason someone hadn’t yet sued YouTube was because there was no one with money to sue.
Enter Google, which purchased YouTube in November for a reported $1.76 billion.
YouTube has battled with several media companies in the past. But former Viacom property CBS and General Electric’s NBC Universal have each reached deals with the site to license material.
In addition to damages, Viacom is seeking an injunction to stop Google and YouTube from using its content.
Google had no comment on the litigation.
