San Francisco - An independent filmmaker who posted some of his work on YouTube, which was then used without permission by Viacom on a TV show, has seen his posting of Viacom's use of his work removed from YouTube by the media conglomerate, CNET News.com reported.

Filmmaker Chris Knight created promotional videos that showed him blowing up a schoolhouse with a Death Star, a la "Star Wars," which was then used by Viacom in the VH1 TV series "Web Junk 2.0."

Viacom, which has separately filed a $1 billion copyright infringement suit against YouTube, claims the commentary it made on Knight's video qualifies it as a "fair use," according to the law.

However, the company believes Knight's posting of the full "Web Junk 2.0" segment on YouTube -- which utilizes his own work -- constitutes copyright infringement, and the clip was removed from YouTube at Viacom's request.

Knight writes on his blog that he contacted YouTube's division of copyright enforcement, arguing that the VH1 clip is derived from his own work, and as such he should be entitled to use it.

"What does this mean for independent producers of content, if material they create can be co-opted by a giant corporation without permission or apology or compensation?" Knight wrote on his blog.

"When in fact, said corporations can take punitive action against you for using material that you created on your own?"

Related Links:
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9769329-7.html

http://theknightshift.blogspot.com/2007/08/viacom-hits-me-with-copyright.html

http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/webjunk_20/series.jhtml