Veoh Decision Setback for Viacom, but Google Not Off Hook

Greg Sandoval, CNET

The unprecedented decision by a U.S. district court judge to dismiss a copyright infringement case against video-sharing site Veoh is definitely favorable to Google, YouTube, and all user-generated sites, copyright attorneys say.

But the ruling doesn't mean that Google will necessarily prevail in the $1 billion copyright suit filed against it by Viacom, parent company of MTV and Paramount Pictures.

...

Fred von Lohmann, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group for Internet users, was much more optimistic about YouTube's chances after learning of the Veoh ruling.

One of the lawyers who worked on the Grokster case, von Lohmann said that: "I think it was a complete victory for Veoh and for the 11 or so other user-generated sites that have copyright cases pending. The decision was pretty much a vindication for sites that comply with the DMCA."

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