Google announced Wednesday that the company won a summary judgement dismissing a lawsuit from Viacom over YouTube. The judge in the case ruled that YouTube is protected by the safe harbor of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (also knows as the DMCA), according to a blog post from Google.
In other words, since Google’s YouTube service works in good faith with copyright owners like Viacom when copyrighted works are posted to the service, Viacom can not use the DMCA to sue YouTube for damages.
In the ruling, the judge wrote, “Defendants are granted summary judgment that they qualify for protection of 17 U.S.C. § 512(c), as expounded [in the full judgment], against all of plaintiffs’ claims for direct and secondary copyright infringement. Plaintiffs’ motions for judgment are denied.”
For its part, Google is calling the victory a win for the Internet community as a whole. In the blog post, Kent Walker, Google’s Vice President and General Counsel, wrote, “This is an important victory not just for us, but also for the billions of people around the world who use the web to communicate and share experiences with each other. We’re excited about this decision and look forward to renewing our focus on supporting the incredible variety of ideas and expression that billions of people post and watch on YouTube every day around the world.”
Viacom intends to appeal the ruling, according to BusinessInsider.
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