14 DAY TRIAL // Google versus Viacom is one of the most well know disputes on the Internet because the owner of MTV and Comedy Central filed a complaint against the search giant requiring $1.6 billion in damages. As you surely know, Viacom ordered YouTube to remove almost 100.000 clips from the page because it considered Google receives praises and money without paying for the content provided by other publishers. YouTube agreed and started the removal, but Viacom decided to sue the company and require $1 billion in damages for copyright infringement.
Because the lawsuit's starting date is almost here, the entire Internet is analyzing the matter and is continuously launching rumors about the suit. Although all the publications were expecting it, the lawsuit will be postponed for a month because Google required a 30-day extension to reply to Viacom's lawsuit. MTV's owner agreed to it, so we'll have a one-month delay for the most awaited lawsuit of the year.
"Google has requested a 30-day extension to reply to Viacom's complaint because Google has yet to retain counsel, Google Watch has learned. Viacom agreed to the extension in a letter addressed to Judge Louis L. Stanton from an attorney representing Viacom. Google is now required to respond by May 2, 2007. Google representatives did not immediately respond to an e-mail requesting comment," Google Watch reported.
Recently, Viacom published a huge statement concerning the lawsuit, sustaining they decided to sue the search giant because some of their clips are still available on YouTube. Viacom mentioned that Google's video service is continuously working to block pornographic and adult material, while their content is still available on YouTube. Although YouTube recorded an impressive number of copyright infringement lawsuits, this is one of the most important suits in the history as Viacom requests almost the same amount of money invested by Google for the YouTube acquisition.