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Google Denies Infringing Viacom’s Copyrights

January 9, 2010

Mountain View, California - In a fierce legal battle, technology company Google Inc. said it is not liable for the copyright infringement suit filed by Viacom which demands $1 billion in damages.

Viacom, a cable provider which owns MTV Networks and Paramount movie studio, has sued Google for uploading more than 63,000 copyrighted movies and TV programs from YouTube, a company it bought in 2006 for $1.65 billion.

In a letter sent to US District Judge Louis Stanton, YouTube’s legal representative Andrew Schapiro said that a video-sharing service is “protected from copyright lawsuit as stated by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.”

Meanwhile, Viacom’s lawyer Stuart Baskin said that YouTube has infringed their copyrights to fuel its market growth.

According to lawsuit, Viacom said the video-sharing website has posted its programs including “South Park” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” without authorization.

Other entertainment companies and media firms such as Sony and CBS have authorized YouTube to post TV shows and movies which have advertising content.

By next week, a federal judge is expected to release a summary judgment in the case.

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