In case you weren't following the legal battle, Viacom charged that YouTube … owned by Google … had allowed its users to post and share copyright protected content, including clips from shows with intellectual property owned or controlled by Viacom.
In case you're confused, we're talking programs and characters including SpongeBob Squarepants, Comedy Central, Dora the Explorer, LazyTown, The Hills, Behind the Music and others.
As Chris Thompson points out in Slate's "The Big Money," Viacom corporate emails submitted as defense evidence show that in earlier years Viacom itself had been caught posting its own copyrighted material on the YouTube site, through employees or marketing shops, to create phony viral buzz, as part of its marketing strategy.
Judge Stanton ruled that once Viacom finally notified YouTube as to the existence of over 100,000 copyrighted clips, almost all of the material was pulled by YouTube within 24 hours, under provisions of the DMCA law. The ruling should mark a dead end for Viacom's claims and a major victory or at least vindication for Google … although Viacom's posturing that it will appeal and calls Stanton's decision "fundamentally flawed."
Hah.
And in case you didn't catch Dana Blankenhorn's article back in March on "Smartplanet", Viacom had tried hard four years ago to purchase YouTube for upwards of $1 billion. Blankenhorn calls Google's purchase advantage, "... the elephant in the room. When Viacom was pushing for YouTube, it was primarily with the intent of destroying it. Which was stupid, because someone else would have come along, or Google Video would have become YouTube."
At that time, Viacom fought Google up to the very last second in October of 2006 … even suggesting a joint-partnership … before Google alone snatched the prize for $1.7 billion. Maybe now we see why Viacom asked the courts for "a summary judgment for the period prior to May 2008"?
Emails submitted as court evidence in the trial better paint the scene:
MTVN CEO Judy McGrath telling M&A execs: "Help us get YouTube. We cannot see it go to Fox/NBC" and "I want to own YouTube. I think it's critical asnd if it goes to a competitior!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even if we have to buy it with a partner to keep it below the line." Then, Viacom CEO Tom Freston: "If we get UTube.... I wanna run it." McGrath: "You'll have to kill me to get to it first." Freston to McGrath: "We know what to do. I know this SUCKS its MADDENING that the revenue isn't there when the content is....but we will fix it and get the stock back up. Accretive digital acquisitions and a big idea or two. Fast."
So now the judge has ruled, with almost nothing going Viacom's way. In light of the revelation that for Viacom, YouTube went from a desperately prized gem to a black and bitter pill with bad aftertaste, perhaps the real elephant in the room is now revealed for all to see.
In case you missed it.
Jim Furrer
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