A court in Rome has ordered YouTube to immediately remove all Mediaset content from its website including portions from the Italian version of ‘Big Brother’.
The Italian broadcaster started legal proceedings against the video website in July, 2008 claiming EUR 500 million in damages, estimating that the more than 4,600 unauthorised clips found on YouTube have caused it to lose 315,672 viewing days.
Mediaset asked for €10,000 for every minute of its content on the site. The company also wanted a fine of €10,000 for every day that YouTube does not comply with the court’s order.
Mediaset said on its website the ruling is the first time the “requests of broadcasters and publishers to have their rights and the exclusivity of their content protected have been recognised”.
YouTube said it is “considering its next steps” and might appeal. “Under European and Italian law, service providers such as YouTube are not responsible for screening the content people upload.”
