Court Tosses Universal Music's Copyright Suit Against Veoh

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 14, 2009 - 10:42am.

Los Angeles - A federal court has dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Universal Music Group against video-sharing site Veoh, finding that the company had satisfied all requirements under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The judge noted that "the record presented demonstrates that, far from encouraging copyright infringement, Veoh has a strong DMCA policy, takes active steps to limit incidents of infringement on its website and works diligently to keep unauthorized works off its website."

Under the DMCA, a service provider cannot be held liable for any copyright-infringing materials uploaded by users of the service.

Websites where users can upload media are required to take down unauthorized content in a timely fashion under the DMCA per request of the copyright holder.

The case marks the second federal court ruling to find Veoh in compliance with the DMCA.

"From its inception, Veoh has respected the rights of property owners, and now we are the only online video service that has been vindicated on this matter by two different federal courts," said Veoh general counsel Joshua Metzger.

"The court's decision has implications well beyond Veoh by setting a precedent that online video sites are not liable for the actions of publishers in copyright cases as long as they work to protect copyrights and work within the provisions of the DMCA."

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ru82l

http://snipurl.com/ru8gp (DMW previous coverage)

http://www.veoh.com