Viacom and YouTube finally settle lawsuit

courtroom

It was a lawsuit underway for many years, but with a settlement announcement, it’s finally over: Viacom, who sued Google and YouTube for $1 billion, has settled its suit, a somewhat inevitable outcome given the companies had been working together more closely in recent years.

The landscape has changed, of course, since the lawsuit was filed.  YouTube was known as a haven for copyright theft in its early days, where people were posting copyrighted content at a much higher rate than unique content.  Since then, many have flocked to the site to post original content, and major content creators have created their own channels. Meanwhile, YouTube has improved its automated copyright filters to screen and flag content, as well as give music studios the chance to monetize videos that use their music, instead of just taking it down.

As such, it makes sense that this case has outlived its purpose, although I’m sure there’s a lot of lawyers who made out well. And thankfully, YouTube continues untouched and accessible to all.

 

 

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