Google says Viacom suit harms online communications

In a court filing late Friday nearly one year after Viacom's suit was brought against it, Google claimed its outcome could have a chilling effect on all online communications.

According to an Associated Press account Tuesday, Google's filing in US District Court in Manhattan alleged that Viacom's insistence that Google's YouTube unit stop allowing others to post its intellectual property "threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment and political and artistic expression."

But Google's allegations went on to suggest a certain duplicity on Viacom's part, claiming that in the end, the availability of its studios' content -- including properties such as Paramount and MTV Networks -- on YouTube specifically, is actually critical to Viacom's business goals.

Both sides have been at odds over copyright issues for more than a year. Viacom filed suit against YouTube in March 2007, accusing it of widespread infringement, and asking for $1 billion in damages.

Google then attempted to deflect the blame for any infringing material in May, invoking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, saying it was exempt from responsibility for the content shared over YouTube because it has no way of judging the nature or ownership of that content prior to its being uploaded.

Viacom did not buy that argument, and the disagreement continued, with both sides trading barbs -- including Google itself accusing the media company of being "built to sue."

Central to Google's argument is the fact that a ruling in Viacom's favor would essentially make any carrier or hosting provider liable for the actions of its users. From there, Google's argument takes the "slippery slope" premise that such a hard line stance could ultimately end up suppressing online communication.

It argues that it has already gone far beyond its legal obligations in policing content, and works with the content owners to protect their works. It says that its work here satisfies DMCA statutes that require providers like YouTube to properly respond to claims of infringement.

Viacom revised and re-filed its lawsuit last month, claiming about 150,000 videos on the site infringe on its copyright -- and say this is only a fraction of the true number. The company also claims Google and YouTube have done little to address the problem.

It called YouTube's infringement a "cornerstone" of the site's overall business plan.