Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube, Inc.

Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube, Inc.
Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube, Inc.
Court	United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Full case name	Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube, Inc.
Argued	October 18, 2011
Decided	April 5, 2012
Holding
	The Digital Millennium Copyright Act's "safe harbor" provisions shield an online platform from liability for the copyright infringement of users.
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting	José A. Cabranes, Debra Ann Livingston
Case opinions
Decision by	José A. Cabranes
Keywords
	Copyright, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Safe Harbor

Viacom International, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., 676 F.3d 19 (2nd Cir., 2012), was a United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decision regarding liability for copyright infringement committed by the users of an online video hosting platform.^[1]

The entertainment company Viacom sued YouTube, the video-sharing site owned by Google, alleging that YouTube had engaged in "brazen" and "massive" copyright infringement by allowing users to upload and view hundreds of thousands of videos owned by Viacom without permission.^[2] Google was brought into the litigation as YouTube's corporate owner. Google responded that the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act shielded the company from liability for the infringing behavior of its users. After an initial victory for YouTube at the district court level and then a reversal at the circuit court level,^[3] the parties settled out of court in 2014.^[4]

^ Viacom Intern., Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., 676 F. 3d 19 (2nd Cir., 2012).
^ "Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief and Damages by Viacom against Google". Docket Alarm, Inc. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
^ "Granting Defendant YouTube's Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment; Entering Judgement that Defendants are Protected by the Safe-Harbor Provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512(c) from all of Plaintiffs Copyright Infringement Claims". Docket Alarm, Inc. April 18, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
^ "Docket Information for Viacom v. YouTube". Retrieved May 9, 2013.

[1] Viacom Intern., Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., 676 F. 3d 19 (2nd Cir., 2012).

[initial-Complaint-2] "Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief and Damages by Viacom against Google". Docket Alarm, Inc. Retrieved May 9, 2013.

[April18SJOrder-3] "Granting Defendant YouTube's Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment; Entering Judgement that Defendants are Protected by the Safe-Harbor Provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512(c) from all of Plaintiffs Copyright Infringement Claims". Docket Alarm, Inc. April 18, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2013.

[docket-4] "Docket Information for Viacom v. YouTube". Retrieved May 9, 2013.

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