YouTube: Viacom Uploaded Some Of The Videos They're Suing Us Over

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Karl_Ritter

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As some of you may have heard, Youtube is in a huge billion dollar lawsuit battle with media giant Viacom over their copyrighted content being uploaded to youtube without permission. Well YouTube(Google) decided to throw a huge wrench into Viacoms lawsuit and accused them of doing some of the uploading.

Viacom continuously and secretly uploaded its content to YouTube, even while publicly complaining about its presence there. It hired no fewer than 18 different marketing agencies to upload its content to the site. It deliberately "roughed up" the videos to make them look stolen or leaked. It opened YouTube accounts using phony email addresses. It even sent employees to Kinko's to upload clips from computers that couldn't be traced to Viacom. And in an effort to promote its own shows, as a matter of company policy Viacom routinely left up clips from shows that had been uploaded to YouTube by ordinary users... In fact, some of the very clips that Viacom is suing us over were actually uploaded by Viacom itself.
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These are some pretty hefty accusations, is this just conspiracy theory rhetoric or is there something to these claims? Neither would surprise me at this point.
 
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I believe Google on this one. If we've learned anything over the last 5 years, it's that companies that distribute music, movie, and television are fucking scum.
 
Is Viacom going to make money over the lawsuit? Then it's very believable that they did some of the uploading.

Piracy just took a new twist.
 
It also could well be a case of the right hand doing what the left wasn't aware of. These media companies are huge, and very disorganized in many ways.

So you have the PR group, who is responsible for hyping a TV series. They say "Hey, let's upload clips of it to Youtube so that people get interested in it." They maybe hire a 3rd party firm to do it somewhat covertly so that people don't realize the company is advertising it.

Then you have the antipiracy group, who thinks the Internet and everything on it is evil. They spend their time rooting out anything that looks like it even might belong to their company and screaming about it. They see this on Youtube and throw a fit and send out takedown notices.

Neither group is talking to the other, nor are they operating with a common strategy. Each thinks they are doing what the company wants.

I can see this as quite likely, and it isn't going to go well for them at trial.
 
Sycraft said:
It also could well be a case of the right hand doing what the left wasn't aware of. These media companies are huge, and very disorganized in many ways.

So you have the PR group, who is responsible for hyping a TV series. They say "Hey, let's upload clips of it to Youtube so that people get interested in it." They maybe hire a 3rd party firm to do it somewhat covertly so that people don't realize the company is advertising it.

Then you have the antipiracy group, who thinks the Internet and everything on it is evil. They spend their time rooting out anything that looks like it even might belong to their company and screaming about it. They see this on Youtube and throw a fit and send out takedown notices.

Neither group is talking to the other, nor are they operating with a common strategy. Each thinks they are doing what the company wants.

I can see this as quite likely, and it isn't going to go well for them at trial.
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As I work for a corporation that is quite a bit larger than viacom, I completely agree. Right hand never knows what the left hand is doing until SHTF. I feel bad for viacom because I'd bet this is 100% true. I really have a hard time believing google would make this up, or anything to for that matter.

I wouldn't really ever blindly follow anyone, but google seems to be very honest. In this day and age that is respectable.
 
I'm much more likely to take Google's word for this even than Viacom. I'm not saying Google isn't evil I'm just saying I believe Viacom is Satan and Google is like a bulldog with rabies in comparison on a evil chart.
 
If even one video was uploaded from a viacom IP addy, this case is pretty much over in favor of Google.

Right now some Viacom lawyers and execs are asking those same questions, was the PR side uploading any of these videos...
 
Whether they were uploaded in a situation where "right hand doesn't know what the left was doing" or whether Viacom was purposely uploading them for nefarious purposes I bet Viacom sits down to a big steaming plate of crow and tries to play it as "right hand doesn't know what the left was doing".

I doubt we'll ever know because they'll spin it as "the PR companies we hired did it without our consent".

I don't think Google would make a statement like that unless they were 100% sure. Maybe Viacom could get some tips from the Chinese next time.
 
Viacom did this deliberately.

They altered the video, making it appear to be pirated. They also went out of their way to make sure they did not use PC's on their network that could be traced back to them.

Viacom sucks.
 
I'll believe Google when they can provide proof that this happened. Accusing is one thing. Proving is another.

I wouldn't doubt it though.
 
the outcome is rather moot..cause we know the only people that will actually win this case is the lawyers :p
 
If I were google, I would counter-sue viacom. If they say they did do it, it makes viacoms lawsuit groundless, if they say they didn't, but google has proof they did, then sue them like mpaa / riaa would sue a person and seek damages. In that case, viacom would be in breach of copyright, since viacom didn't authorize viacom to distribute copyrighted works, which I would believe to be copyright infringement, and if all those holier than thou pricks that tell me and everyone on these forums and abroad that its theft, but this time the actual kind since they are attempting to get damages from google on top of the free distribution.

I see google lawyers jumping for joy at the every thought of this.
 
ROFL

hilarious

Google should do something legally, like lock Viacom out or something, or even do that and tell them to GFT, which I'd do, or should I say, I already do.
 
Fail said:
ROFL

hilarious

Google should do something legally, like lock Viacom out or something, or even do that and tell them to GFT, which I'd do, or should I say, I already do.
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Google should counter-sue Viacom for defamation. :cool:
 
I can picture this conversation happening:

Viacom Monkey to PR firm: Yeah we got this hot new show we're gonna prop up on Youtube since thats where all the kids are searching for new stuff
PR Firm Idiot: Great idea, we'll upload some clips and get right on propping up your programming for you, mail the check!
Viacom: Awesome, we're gonna make this show a huge hit!

3 weeks or so pass by

Viacom Sludge Attorney: We're suing Google for putting videos of our work on Youtube. They're violating our IP!
Viacom Monkey: Umm, sir, WE uploaded those videos.
Sludge: You did what!? Dammit, oh well, SUE EM ANYWAY AND HIDE IT, we all need a payday to cover that crap programming that bombed like Hiroshima
 
iLAWL
I bet when this came to light the viacom head honchos starting cursing up a storm
 
Evil said:
I'm much more likely to take Google's word for this even than Viacom. I'm not saying Google isn't evil I'm just saying I believe Viacom is Satan and Google is like a bulldog with rabies in comparison on a evil chart.
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Well you're the expert on Evil ;-)
 
Plausible deny-ability says what? Companies do this all the time in PR. If a campaign succeeds they can claim it, if it fails they can just blame it on the third party.
 
Lots of accusations - let's see some solid proof.

People that believe Google is less evil than Viacom, using this as justification to believe one company over another, are simply naive.
 
Arcygenical said:
Lots of accusations - let's see some solid proof.

People that believe Google is less evil than Viacom, using this as justification to believe one company over another, are simply naive.
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I don't know about Viacom uploading to YouTube, though one has to think that if Google is making the claim they've got something. But, the situation is ridiculous based on Viacom's own words:
Viacom also claims that Google lowered its own copyright standards when it purchased YouTube in 2006. “Instead of screening as was done at Google Video, now every infringing video would remain freely available on YouTube until a copyright owner could detect it and send a takedown notice,” Viacom writes in its filing with the court.
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Translation: "Google is following the provisions of the DMCA."

Inconvenient as it might be for Viacom to send out the notification letters (imagine the pain of having to deal with them on Google's end, since they have to deal with every company that sends them), that's what the bought-and-paid-for Congress gave the copyright law exploitation industry in the DMCA. I can't imagine YouTube not falling under the Safe Harbor provisions, so Viacom might end up looking at paying the legal fees of both sides if they get a judge who wants to sent a message about silly lawsuits.
 
vitube.jpg
 
Bgrngod said:
I'll believe Google when they can provide proof that this happened. Accusing is one thing. Proving is another.
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Well, if there's one company we know is good at keeping (and mining) historical connection data, it's Google. I don't see them making the accusation without a solid link.

However, the accusation of Viacom *not* requesting certain videos be taken down would be a little more difficult to prove.
 
I think I'll take the word of Company A who owns the popular video site everyone wants to replicate but charge for over Company B who wishes they had the popular video site so they could charge for it.

As much as you hear these entertainment companies complain, you'd think they weren't making a dime on anything they do. I can't recall Google at any point in time claiming they couldn't make money on their efforts.....

Maybe that's the point in a company's life when someone needs to pull the plug because the spirit has left the body and only the memories and machines are keeping it going. Old Viacom getting senile in it's old age, can't remember what it did yesterday.
 
Evil said:
I'm much more likely to take Google's word for this even than Viacom. I'm not saying Google isn't evil I'm just saying I believe Viacom is Satan and Google is like a bulldog with rabies in comparison on a evil chart.
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LOL
 
viacom must be a bunch of idiots. I want to know how google figured some of this stuff out? Pretty genius, if these accusations are true google will win this and should counter sue viacom for bad publicity, etc.
 
Sycraft said:
It also could well be a case of the right hand doing what the left wasn't aware of. These media companies are huge, and very disorganized in many ways.

So you have the PR group, who is responsible for hyping a TV series. They say "Hey, let's upload clips of it to Youtube so that people get interested in it." They maybe hire a 3rd party firm to do it somewhat covertly so that people don't realize the company is advertising it.

Then you have the antipiracy group, who thinks the Internet and everything on it is evil. They spend their time rooting out anything that looks like it even might belong to their company and screaming about it. They see this on You tube and throw a fit and send out takedown notices.

Neither group is talking to the other, nor are they operating with a common strategy. Each thinks they are doing what the company wants.

I can see this as quite likely, and it isn't going to go well for them at trial.
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There's a problem whit that theory, even if the right hand dose not know what the left is doing, the advertising boys have to know whats happening.

Even if this completely outsourced, there has to be a guy that ask hey what have you don whit the money we gave you "in details plz", and even if they don't, the company that is putting up the clips have to see that Viacom put out take down orders on there material, i can believe that one company dose not give feedback on this but 18?

So its eider Viacom ore Google is a lair, if not and right hand left hand is true they deserve to get sued ore counter sued
 
Ranma said:
the outcome is rather moot..cause we know the only people that will actually win this case is the lawyers :p
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Well in these kind of cases, the lawyers are already on the payroll, so they don't see any additional benefit if they win. These are corporate lawyers, not Johnny Cochrane ambulance chasing lawyers.
 
Maybe the courts will finally see these media people for what they are after this one.

Nah. Hell, the government will probably issue them a BS patent on the entire Idea LOL
 
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