Google in trouble over copyright infringement

MUMBAI: Search engine giant Google is in for trouble over infringement of copyright as a US appeals court has revived lawsuits by Viacom, English Premier League, and various film studios and television networks.

According to newswire Reuters, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals said on Thursday that a reasonable jury could have found that YouTube knew of specific infringing activity on its website; as s a result, it said a lower court made a mistake in dismissing the case.

The plaintiffs in the cases before the 2nd Circuit collectively accused YouTube of improperly broadcasting about 79,000 copyrighted videos on its website between 2005 and 2008, the report added.

Viacom had contended that Google and YouTube did not act to stop the infringements. It also said the lower court should consider whether YouTube demonstrated “willful blindness” in allowing copyrighted videos to remain on its website.