September 16, 2009 | The Biz

Universal loses lawsuit against Veoh

Veoh cannot be held liable for pirated videos uploaded onto its video-sharing website, U.S. District Court Judge A. Howard Matz said on Monday. He found that the Veoh was protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's safe-harbor provisions, which says sites cannot be held immediately responsible for the postings of their users. In the case of pirated material, the site must work to remove it as quickly as they can once aware of it, and have clear guidelines for users who abuse the intellectual property of others.

The judge said Veoh acted in good  faith when it terminated the memberships of repeat offenders, tossing the lawsuit that Universal had filed.

In 2007, Universal sued Veoh for copyright infringement arguing the site was "a massive copyright infringer that has built its business on the back of others' intellectual property." Universal added that the safe-harbor provisions were voided because Veoh's founders and investors knew of the pirated videos.

This is the second court win for Veoh after facing a similar lawsuit by Titan Media's parent, the Io Group.

Universal promised to appeal.

Perhaps these cases should be expedited to the Supreme Court where a decision can me made once and for all, keeping all players aware of their rights and responsibilities.

U.S. Judge Tosses Suit Over Hosted Pirated Content [XBiz]