A JUDGE has thrown out a billion-dollar copyright suit the owners of MTV and Paramount Pictures filed against YouTube.
In what is a major legal victory for the video website, US District Court
Judge Louis Stanton said that YouTube was protected against Viacom's claims of "massive copyright infringement" by provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
The 1998 legislation provides protection for internet firms from copyright violations by their users, and the judge ruled that YouTube's actions, such as quickly removing infringing videos when requested, were in line with the Act.
YouTube's owner, Google, welcomed the ruling, while Viacom vowed to appeal.
Viacom, which owns MTV, VH1 and Paramount studios, sued Google and YouTube in March 2007, arguing that they condoned pirated video clips at the website to boost its popularity.
The lawsuit was merged with a similar complaint by the English Premier League, which said football clips were also routinely posted on YouTube without authorisation.
"This is an important victory not just for us, but also for the billions of people around the world who use the web to communicate and share experiences with each other," Google lawyer Kent Walker said.
Viacom's lawyer Michael Fricklas said the company was disappointed but was confident it would win on appeal.
"Copyright protection is essential to the survival of creative industries," he said.
"It is illegal for companies to build businesses with creative material they've stolen from others."
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