YouTube copyright lawsuits mount: Who needs Google?
The latest, as reported by Bloomberg News:
"Google Inc.'s YouTube unit was sued by David Grisman, a mandolin player who once performed with the Grateful Dead, over what he says are unauthorized postings of his music, the latest suit against the popular video-sharing site. Grisman, his partner Craig Miller and their company Dawg Music sued Google and YouTube May 10 in federal court in San Francisco."
On the one-week anniversary of the class action lawsuit filed in New York, I presented my exclusive insider interview Friday with the lead prosecuters Proskauer Rose in Google at Risk: YouTube class action lawsuit changes DMCA copyright game. The plaintiff argument is a compelling one and underscores how Google’s YouTube business model is in direct contradiction with the spirit of DMCA 512C.
WILL GOOGLE YOUTUBE GET THE MESSAGE? HOW MANY MORE LAWSUITS WILL IT TAKE?
Google is not doing any copyright owner a favor with its supposed "free" promotion at YouTube, as the non-stop lawsuits illustrate. Google WILL inevitably pay up for the use of the property of others, one way or another.
YouTube has a "massive arsenal of misappropriated copyrighted material" and a "deliberate strategy" to promote copyright infringement, the complaint contends. The suit seeks cash to compensate copyright owners for past infringement and a court order to force YouTube to change the way it does business.
Google and YouTube "pay lip-service to a purported desire to avoid violating intellectual property laws," the complaint says. "In reality, however, they deliberately refuse to take meaningful steps to deter the rampant infringing activity readily apparent on YouTube which would, in turn, have a negative impact on the advertising and other reviews and other value achieved through the large volume of traffic on the YouTube Web site."
YouTube unrest is mounting from all sides, as I discussed earlier today: YouTube to video artists: Wolf in sheep’s clothing?