IAC, Yahoo, Facebook, Others Come To Google’s Side In Viacom Suit

YouTube

A host of Google (NSDQ: GOOG) competitors have come to the company’s defense in its $1 billion lawsuit with Viacom (NYSE: VIA). In a joint brief filed with the court overseeing the case, Facebook, IAC (NSDQ: IACI), eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) and Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) say that some user-contributed information will “inevitably” be illegal and “without protection of the safe harbors (provided by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) the possibility of statutory damages — multiplied by thousands of works — could severely hamper innovation on the Internet.”

Viacom’s response (via Bloomberg): “The courts have been clear that creating and building a web-based business on the intellectual property of others is illegal. That is exactly what YouTube did in its formative years. Nothing in this case threatens the principles of the DMCA or the ability of legitimate Internet- based businesses to flourish.”

As CNET’s Greg Sandoval notes, the filing comes after Viacom lined up its own corporate supporters; NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), Warner Bros. (NYSE: TWX), and Disney (NYSE: DIS) filed a brief earlier this month in support of Viacom.

Viacom Filing

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