A federal judge on Thursday ruled against Viacom in its epic copyright infringement case against YouTube, reports Eriq Gardner at the Hollywood Reporter.
YouTube had originally won the case back in 2010. Viacom won an appeal and now that appeal was overturned.
Viacom has vowed to appeal again.
Still, the verdict today is pretty good news for anyone that runs a website with user-generated content. Had Viacom won, it would have major implications on liability of websites for information posted by website visitors.
The case is also a symbol of the friction between the old-school broadcasters and the modern-era Internet. Viacom sued YouTube for hosting unauthorized clips of shows like “South Park" and “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart."
Today the judge says that YouTube is protected by the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. That act protects site owners from being sued as long as they quickly remove copyrighted materials once they're alerted.
In a story by The New York Times, the judge was quoted as saying Viacom was being "anachronistic."
But our favorite part of this entire fiasco was the tweet sent by YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley to Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman.
Hey Philippe, wanna grab a beer to celebrate?! YouTube Again Beats Viacom's Massive Copyright Infringement Lawsuit j.mp/ZCuWCQ
— Chad Hurley (@Chad_Hurley) April 18, 2013
Zing!
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