After a three-year gap, the judge that ruled against Viacom declaring that YouTube was protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act has reaffirmed his earlier ruling. In doing so, he has confirmed that YouTube and owner Google are protected against copyright violation claims and penalties for infringement by users.
Viacom has finally returned The Daily Show and Colbert Report content to the web for online streaming. Both shows had been pulled from the company's various websites as part of an ongoing dispute with satellite television provider DirecTV, as both companies continue to disagree over contract terms in a battle that has made its way into the public view.
The MegaUpload execs who were jailed in New Zealand have hired law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan along with lawyer Andrew Shapiro to represent them in their upcoming legal defense, CNET revealed on Friday. Shapiro, part of the law firm, is known for successfully defending YouTube from Viacom in a high-profile case back in 2010. The firm is one of the best in the country, according to MegaUpload attorney Ira Rothken. The new hires will have their hands full as they try to defend their clients against criminal conspiracy charges that are said to have cost copyright owners over $500 million in damages.
Google was dealt a major setback after a court sided with Viacom's appeal to its loss against Google in a copyright lawsuit. The 2nd US Court of Appeals decided that a jury stood a reasonable possibility of finding that Google's YouTube knew there was bootleg material being uploaded to the site. Google was allowed a safe harbor provision guarding it against lawsuits for content it didn't know about, the appeals court said, but it wasn't certain whether or not Google was aware of specific content.
Amazon on Wednesday officially confirmed earlier rumors that it has inked a deal with cable provider Viacom to bring its TV shows to Amazon's Instant Video streaming service. As part of the deal, Amazon will allow customers to access thousands of episodes from MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Spike, VH1, BET, CMT, and Logo. This will include past seasons of shows like Chappelle's Show, Hot in Cleveland, Jersey Shore, Yo Gabba Gabba, and iCarly, among others.
The mystery Viacom video deal was attached to Amazon Tuesday in a leak Tuesday. While the terms of the deal weren't known to Reuters, it would be part of a rumored plan to offer Internet subscription video as an option separate from a Prime deal. As hinted by Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, the deal could be made public as soon as this week, although whether or not that would include the new Amazon service wasn't mentioned.
The hacking group Anonymous has intercepted a 15-minute call between the FBI and the British police's cybercrime investigators, according to a Friday report. Available to download, the conference call ironically focused on how to track and prosecute the very group of hackers. The FBI has launched an investigation into how Anonymous able to attain the recording, which has some names of the suspects edited out.
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman hinted in a discussion of fiscal results that his company was about to sign a significant digital content deal. The agreement was cast as for an online, subscription-based video on demand service and could be made public next week, The Hollywood Reporter understood. Which service, and what content, weren't divulged.
Cox on Monday tried its formal hand at a live TV streaming app with the formal rollout of Cox TV Connect for the iPad (free, App Store). As with those from most other cable providers, it lets those with the Apple tablet watch live TV as long as they're on Wi-Fi paired up with a Cox Internet connection and the right level of TV service. The app has a full programming guide and lets viewers watch through an inset while they check the full guide, or else launches a pop-over to show other currently running shows while minimizing the effect on the full-screen view.
Viacom on Tuesday tried to have a New York City Second Court of Appeals overturn a dismissal of its YouTube lawsuit. The media giant didn't believe that the basic principles of safe harbor applied to Google's video site and that it should be held liable for any illegally copied video that reaches YouTube, no matter how difficult it was to detect. Attorney Paul Smith portrayed the upheld ruling as having disastrous consequences for the entire media industry, as it would lead to "vast exploitation" of content online.
Cablevision and Viacom late Wednesday settled their dispute over the Optimum iOS TV app. The deal lets Cablevision keep Viacom's shows on the TV streaming gateway without either side conceding its legal points. Terms of the settlement weren't mentioned but likely involved Cablevision paying Viacom for continued rights.
Cablevision has now extended the availability of its Optimum iPad app to the iPod touch and iPhone. The app (free, App Store) lets Cablevision cable subscribers watch live TV and video-on-demand titles on their portable iOS devices as well as act as a remote control for compatible Cablevision set-top boxes. Just like with the iPad app, however, users can't access content from outside of their home.
Anonymous is reported to have hacked into the Universal Music and Viacom servers. According to the Wall Street Journal [sub. req.], the group has released a cache of files that it claims represents the passwords and other user data stolen from a Universal Music affiliated site, as well as those from Viacom networks. The group is also thought to have absorbed members from the recently dissolved LulzSec, ‘Antisec’ group.
Viacom sued Cablevision in a Manhattan court on Thursday over claims that the Cablevision iPad app was violating its broadcast rights. The Comedy Central owner claimed the tablet app was breaking terms that restricted showing Viacom content only on cable TV. The studio wanted both a ban on the iPad streaming as well as $2 million for every purported breach and other possible damages.
Viacom and Time Warner are reportedly attempting to privately settle their ongoing legal battle over content streaming on Apple's iPad and similar devices. District Judge Leonard Sand has approved an agreement that effectively stalls the formal litigation process while the parties attempt to find a resolution outside of the court.
Time Warner Cable started the weekend with word that it had recovered some of the channels for the TWCable TV iPad app (free, App Store) that it had lost to disagreements just weeks earlier. The streaming app now has Discovery's namesake channel as well as Animal Planet and TLC. Fox News, FX, and National Geographic have also arrived along with Lifetime Real Women, Military History, Sundance Central, and Wedding Central.
Viacom this weekend lumped Cablevision into its disputes over iPad TV streaming rights. Similar to its fight with Time Warner Cable, Viacom argued that Cablevision hadn't been given permission to stream over Apple's tablet. It negotiates deals for "specific technologies and devices" and insisted it wanted a deal that provided "appropriate value" for both sides.
Time Warner Cable on Thursday launched a preemptive strike against Viacom in hopes of getting a legal right to broadcast the network's shows through its iPad app. The motion for a declaratory judgment asked a Southern District of New York court to say that the TWCable TV app was within TWC's broadcast rights. Viacom had threatened legal action but would be barred from any measure if a judgment came in TWC's favor.
Time Warner Cable on Friday shot back at the need to pull some channels from its TWCable TV iPad app by adding 17 new ones. Although it had to pull some key Discovery-, Fox-, and Viacom-owned stations, it now has major networks such as A&E, CNN, Disney, ESPNnews, IFC, and MSNBC, among others. It also managed to add Fox News despite the apparent deadlock.
Getting two of its more popular shows back will cost Hulu between $40 and $50 million, parties behind the deal told AllThingsD. That amount will also buy content other than The Daily Show and The Colbert Report from cable company Viacom, including Jersey Shore and Tosh.0, among others. The payout could get even large depending on how well the show is doing, according to the tips.
The The Daily Show and The Colbert Report could come back to the Hulu streaming service, a weekend report claimed. The two shows were pulled early last year when Comedy Central, owned by Viacom, and Hulu didn't agree on a price for distribution. Insiders for the New York Times said executives at the two were nonetheless negotiating for a return last month.
Viacom on Friday said it would appeal its loss to YouTube in a Second US Circuit Court of Appeals after attempting to sue the video site for copyright infringement. It argued that the court incorrectly interpreted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by ruling that YouTube had followed safe harbor guidelines by initially dealing with piracy only by responding to takedown requests from Viacom and others. The judge's statement that YouTube "welcomed" piracy, even if it took down violators, was proof the DMCA didn't apply, Viacom said.
Google TV was dealt another major blow on Sunday after viewers discovered that Viacom had blocked the platform on its networks. Websites for Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and other networks now show that the "content is unavailable for your device" rather than loading the Flash video. The restriction was expected earlier given Viacom's failed lawsuit against YouTube but comes relatively late.
YouTube scored a historic victory today as it won a summary judgment (PDF) against Viacom in the media publisher's $1 billion lawsuit. The court determined that YouTube and its parent Google couldn't be held liable for piracy as they were protected by safe harbor terms under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Video sites are exonerated as long as they cooperate with producers to tackle copyright problems, the ruling found.
Rhapsody today slashed the price of a subscription from $15 per month to $10. The immediate cut still provides the same features, which includes unlimited music downloads as well as streaming and in some cases local caching. Permanent MP3 downloads are still an option and usually cost $10 per album with songs ranging between 79 cents and $1.29.
About a year before filing a $1 billion copyright claim against Google and YouTube in 2007, Viacom tried to buy the popular video hosting site, court documents that were made public on Thursday reveal. Viacom owns MTV and Paramount Pictures, among other networks, and Google is accusing it of having continued to secretly upload its videos to the site even after filing the lawsuit.
RealNetworks in a surprise move tonight broke off Rhapsody as a separate company. The move has the blessing of Real's partner in the venture, Viacom, and will transfer all the rights to Rhapsody so that its streaming and download music services remain intact. Real will also inject $18 million in cash and promises that Rhapsody will be independent, with no one else holding a majority stake.
Two US cable providers are looking to put their TV programming online in a bid to preserve their business, sources have reportedly told the Wall Street Journal. Comcast and Time Warner Cable are believed to have been in ongoing talks with content providers, such as NBC and Viacom, for a deal that would let subscribers to cable TV packages stream "much" of their available shows online on the web. The selection would be "well beyond" what free online services like Hulu offer.
As soon as January 1st, a number of Time Warner cable subscribers could find themselves without some of the most popular TV channels, writes the LA Times. Viacom -- which owns networks such as Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV -- has threatened to withdraw its programming should it be unable to reach a new contract agreement with Time Warner by midnight of December 31st. "We've been attempting to negotiate in good faith but they seem to taken it to the brink," claims Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman.
Google, Viacom, and the Football Association of England have all reached an agreement after the latter two firms brought charges of copyright infringement to the video-based social networking site YouTube. Reuters reveals that while the service normally specializes in user-created content, YouTube also hosts many segmented commercial productions, despite the action being against its End-User License Agreement.
Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), the chair of the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, today argued that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) does not go far enough, despite common complaints about its severity. Berman is overseeing a hearing on the PRO-IP Act, a bill which could increase statutory damages for copyright violation, and even establish an intellectual property enforcement office in the Department of Justice. Before today's witness testimonies began, Berman admitted that there were things he would like to change in copyright law to make the DMCA more strict.
