Mountain View (CA) – There are more signs that Google’s honeymoon period is coming to an end and increasingly has to deal with less comfortable business matters. As Viacom wages as legal battle with the company, demanding $1 billion in damages over copyright infringement, Google is now being hit with the next salvo that is likely ending up in a similar range. Italy’s Mediaset is one of Europe’s most powerful and influential media conglomerates, traditionally even more aggressive than Viacom, and is likely to cause more than just headaches for Google.
YouTube may not only the most attractive web property purchase so far, but it may also become much more expensive than the $1.6 billion it has paid for the site. This time, the battlefield has shifted to Europe. For some time, Italian prosecutors have been examining a case that could result in have four unknown Google executives being charged over a video clip that was posted on Google Video and showed a disabled teenager being bullied. Now it is Mediaset Group that has filed a copyright infringement suit against YouTube and Google in Rome, Italy. The suit seeks 500 million Euro, about $780 million, in damages.
Like Viacom, Mediaset claims that Google intentionally hosted copyrighted clips on its YouTube video sharing service. The company said that 4643 of its copyrighted clips on YouTube translate into more than 325 lost hours of original TV programming. According to Mediaset, this amounts to 315,672 viewing days lost across Mediaset's three TV stations in Italy. Besides damages, Mediaset could ask the court to force YouTube to remove the clips or lay the groundwork for a licensing deal.
Mediaset may be a different caliber for Google to deal with. 34% of Mediaset is owned by the Berlusconi Group, a company that is headed by Pier Silvio Berlusconi, son of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The media empire of the Berlusconi family is largely controlled through a 96% stake in Fininvest, which also has a controlling stake in Mondadori, Italy’s dominant book and magazine publishing group. Silvio Berlusconi is often referred to as the Bill Gates of publishing in Europe. He is considered to be Italy’s third richest person with estimated assets of about $9.4 billion.
"Lawsuits like this one threaten the way people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment, and political and artistic expression over the internet," YouTube said in a statement. 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."
It will be interesting to see if the European judicial system can shield Google from Berlusconi’s superstar power. If Microsoft's EU anti-trust case was any indication, the search giant is facing tougher times. It will be next to impossible for Google to beat the EU legal system that equally protects consumer rights and rights of copyright holders. In the U.S., things already look grim for Google is it appears to be the general opinion that Viacom will prevail in court. It is safe to assume that European media corporations are keeping close eye on what's going on with Viacom lawsuit and what the Mediaset outcome will be. Such copyright infringements always go where the money is and, at least at this time, Google has lots of cash.
YouTube may not only the most attractive web property purchase so far, but it may also become much more expensive than the $1.6 billion it has paid for the site. This time, the battlefield has shifted to Europe. For some time, Italian prosecutors have been examining a case that could result in have four unknown Google executives being charged over a video clip that was posted on Google Video and showed a disabled teenager being bullied. Now it is Mediaset Group that has filed a copyright infringement suit against YouTube and Google in Rome, Italy. The suit seeks 500 million Euro, about $780 million, in damages.
Like Viacom, Mediaset claims that Google intentionally hosted copyrighted clips on its YouTube video sharing service. The company said that 4643 of its copyrighted clips on YouTube translate into more than 325 lost hours of original TV programming. According to Mediaset, this amounts to 315,672 viewing days lost across Mediaset's three TV stations in Italy. Besides damages, Mediaset could ask the court to force YouTube to remove the clips or lay the groundwork for a licensing deal.
Mediaset may be a different caliber for Google to deal with. 34% of Mediaset is owned by the Berlusconi Group, a company that is headed by Pier Silvio Berlusconi, son of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The media empire of the Berlusconi family is largely controlled through a 96% stake in Fininvest, which also has a controlling stake in Mondadori, Italy’s dominant book and magazine publishing group. Silvio Berlusconi is often referred to as the Bill Gates of publishing in Europe. He is considered to be Italy’s third richest person with estimated assets of about $9.4 billion.
"Lawsuits like this one threaten the way people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment, and political and artistic expression over the internet," YouTube said in a statement. 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."
It will be interesting to see if the European judicial system can shield Google from Berlusconi’s superstar power. If Microsoft's EU anti-trust case was any indication, the search giant is facing tougher times. It will be next to impossible for Google to beat the EU legal system that equally protects consumer rights and rights of copyright holders. In the U.S., things already look grim for Google is it appears to be the general opinion that Viacom will prevail in court. It is safe to assume that European media corporations are keeping close eye on what's going on with Viacom lawsuit and what the Mediaset outcome will be. Such copyright infringements always go where the money is and, at least at this time, Google has lots of cash.