Viacom v Google: The $1bn battle for content

By Tim Luckhurst

When is copyright theft not illegal? In the struggle to answer this defining question of the internet age, one entertainment giant has declared war. Viacom, owner of the Paramount and Dreamworks film studios and television channels including MTV, Nickelodeon and the Comedy Channel, has launched a $1bn (£515m) copyright-infringement suit against Google.

The case, which accuses Google's YouTube video-sharing site of building "a lucrative business out of exploiting the devotion of fans to others' creative works", has the potential to redefine how content is used on the internet. "If it goes to court, this will be the biggest case since Napster [the music-sharing website shut down by litigation in 2002]," says Edgar Forbes, senior lecturer in media law and intellectual property at Bournemouth University.


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