Italian broadcaster Mediaset has said it is suing YouTube in a Rome civil court over the misuse of its copyrighted material and seeking “at least” €500 million in damages.
Mediaset says that in a sample survey carried out by the company on June 10, 2008 it found 4,643 movies constituting 325 hours of material that was available on YouTube without the copyright clearance.
The company says its €500m claim does not include lost advertising revenue that it would have been able to sell were the content available directly on its channels.
In a statement released to Broadband TV News, a YouTube Spokesperson said the company respects copyright holders and takes copyright issues very seriously. “There is no need for legal action and all the associated costs. We prohibit users from uploading infringing material, and we cooperate with all copyright holders to identify and promptly remove infringing content as soon as we are officially notified. We have hundreds of partners in Europe and thousands around the world who take advantage of the latest technologies we have developed to help them to effectively distribute, manage and protect their content on the site.”
