Aug
28
Judge: Site Not Liable in Titan Media Copyright Case
August 28, 2008 | 10 Comments
A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that video-sharing site Veoh.com is not liable in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by IO Group, parent company of Titan Media. The gay adult studio sued Veoh in 2006 after learning their copyrighted product had been uploaded to the site. Per AVN, “Veoh claimed it was unaware of the infringement and that it took steps to remove the material, pleading its defense under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).” CLICK HERE for more details…
Titan claimed Veoh did not enforce its policies against copyright infringement and encoded the clips to allow them to be uploaded. Therefore, Titan argued, Veoh should be liable for its users piracy.
However, AVN reports, “the court ruled that since the encoding process is automated, Veoh is not liable for damages.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd wrote: “The record presented demonstrates that, far from encouraging copyright infringement, Veoh has a strong DCMA policy, takes active steps to limit incidents of infringement on its website, and works diligently to keep unauthorized works off its website. In summary, Veoh has met its burden in establishing its entitlement to safe harbor for the alleged infringements here.”
Further, “Veoh has simply established a system whereby software automatically processes user-submitted content and recasts it in a format that is readily accessible to its users. Veoh preselects the software parameters for the process from a range of default values set by the third party software.
“But Veoh does not itself actively participate or supervise the uploading of files. Nor does it preview or select the files before the upload is completed. Instead, video files are uploaded through an automated process which is initiated entirely at the volition of Veoh’s users.”
Reverberations from the ruling could have a far-reaching impact. For example, YouTube and Viacom are currently engaged in a high-profile lawsuit involving copyright infringement as it relates to user-generated content.
The decision “will affect every video-sharing site on the internet,” reports XBIZ. “Just because a tube site encodes videos doesn’t mean they control those videos.”
However, Judge Lloyd affirmed his ruling applied to this specific case. “The decision rendered here is confined to the particular combination of facts in this case and is not intended to push the bounds of the safe harbor so wide that less-than-scrupulous service providers may claim its protection,” he said.
“Attorneys representing online video sites around the country are salivating,” said TechCrunch.com.”In a nutshell, here’s what we learned: If you take reasonable precautions against copyrighted materials on your service, you may be [okay].”
XBIZ reports the decision “includes several guidelines for how video-sharing websites can make sure they’re protected.” Those guidelines recommend sites clearly state that copyrighted material is prohibited; take active steps to monitor users who violate copyright; and comply with DCMA takedown notices.”
CLICK HERE for the complete ruling.
XBIZ: “Veoh Porn Case Rules in Favor of Tube Sites”
AVN:”Judge: Tube Site Not Liable for Infringement in Titan Media Copyright Suit”
TechCrunch.com: “What the Veoh Decision Means for YouTube and Others”
See also:
Valleywag.com: “Veoh Wins DCMA Case Against Gay Porn Producer Titan Media”
Multichannel.com: “Veoh Wins Ruling in Net-Video Copyright Suit”
[H/T to various Constant Readers for the heads-up.]
Comments
10 Comments so far
Titan’s dodgy tactics have finally come home to roost. They have had success with easy “john does” but have been found out for trying to trap Veoh by not giving any DMCA notices and just going straight to court. Now this has set a precedent for Youtube to use. major backfire for titan, not that keith Webb aka Duoff will admit it
Well said!
Titan’s litigation mad reign has come to an end and he has made the tubes safer than ever. Now will Titan VP ever admit that or will we have a round of excuses?
Titan was more than right and should continue their quest for getting at thieves responsible for the possible decline and demise of our beloved industry
the demise of the porn industry? are you kidding? It has grown exponentially every year and a few “pirates” aren’t going to affect that growth.
they do, period
Anonymous 5:47 am – I don’t think DVD producers as a whole would agree with you about the growth. Of course online porn has exploded, but DVD sales have been on a downward trend for quite some time, I believe.
I’m afraid you have been hit no differently to the music industry, you now have to work harder for your money. All the time you pursue these suits your ‘main’ business will be slowly eroded around you. Of course that’s if your real business model is not set around suing than making good quality videos?
Boring, noone cares.
‘was going to be a bit a stretch, but we felt like we had to try’
Proof in point – this VP sits behind a desk with nothing better to do all day long! Except look for easy prey on who he can pounce on next. Having read a number of his comments, why doesn’t he focus 1/10th of his ‘sue-happy’ attitude on his grammar?
The VP has found that his IO group can’t try and sidestep the long arm of the law without finding they are wasting their time and efforts.
Watch out he is bored again, so with nothing better to do, watch this space for his next legal onslaught!
I wish he was suing in the UK, he would have been given a nice bill for the defence costs which would have helped concentrate the mind.