Google and Viacom settle seven-year lawsuit over YouTube

Google and Viacom have settled a lengthy lawsuit over copyright infringement on YouTube. The case was filed as early as 2007. Viacom held Google responsible for illegally uploading video content to YouTube.

In a joint press release, the two companies announced that the legal wrangling over YouTube uploads has come to an end. Furthermore, no substantive announcements will be made about the settlement, making it unclear whether Google has paid any amount of money to Viacom.

Viacom’s lawsuit against Google’s YouTube dates back to 2007. In 2010, a judge ruled that Google is not responsible for copyright infringement resulting from the uploading of Viacom content by YouTube users. Despite this, Viacom again filed a claim, which was subsequently rejected last year.

Because the judge twice ruled in favor of Google, it is not logical that Google has paid a fee to Viacom for copyright infringement. Agreements to avoid future lawsuits may have been part of the negotiations.