Viacom StepsUp YouTube Battle with $1 Billion Suit

Conglom Lobs Copyright Infringement Claim at Google

Viacom opened a new chapter in its fight with online video portal YouTube today, suing parent company Google for more than a $1 billion in copyright infringement claims.

The media conglomerate—home to Paramount, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Nickelodeon, among others entities—charges that over 150,000 unauthorized Viacom clips have garnered more than 1.5 billion views at YouTube. Viacom filed the action with a U.S. District Court division in New York.

YouTube has suffered no decline in traffic since it complied with Viacom's request last month, demanding the portal to remove at least 100,000 clips. Viacom, however, said web traffic across its sites have increased as a result.

See more about what Viacom seeks and how
Google is responding at www.tvweek.com.