YouTube Copyright Claim Gathering Steam

The copyright infringement claim brought by the Premier League against YouTube is gathering steam following support from several more sports and media rights holders.

In June, a number of French sports rights holders and governing bodies, including la Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) and la Federation Française de Tennis (FFT), joined the copyright class action law suit against YouTube and its owner Google, which the Premier League and music publisher Bourne jointly commenced in the New York state courts last May.

YouTube, the video showing website, is accused of posting match highlights on the site within hours of the matches taking place. The class action, which currently comprises eight organisations including the UK Rugby Football League, the Finnish Football League and the Association of European Professional Leagues, is demanding that YouTube is permanently prevented from continuing to post highlights without authorisation. It also seeks unspecified damages.

Google, which acquired the hugely successful YouTube in October 2006 for around $1.65 billion, claims that the Premier League has misunderstood copyright law and in particular how the Digital Millennium Copyright Act applies to make YouTube's business model exempt. It also claims that it has entered into partnerships with several top European football clubs, including Chelsea (as reported in the Winter 2007 Sports e-Bulletin), Real Madrid, AC Milan and Barcelona. Google is maintaining that it co-operates with any valid complaints from copyright owners swiftly and removes any infringing material on notification.

However, sports rights holders argue that the use of such materials infringes their licences and is detrimental to sport by taking commercial value away from clubs and participants.

Recently la Ligue Pro (the Belgian Professional League) and Belgacom (the Belgian League's current broadcast rights holder) considered joining the class action but now appear to be negotiating an arrangement with the website, while proposed action by the New Zealand, South African and Australian Rugby Unions also appears to be in abeyance.

Google and YouTube are currently defending a separate $1 billion copyright lawsuit brought by US media giant Viacom.