Judge Dismisses Some Damage Claims Against YouTube for Int’l Video

A U.S. judge has ruled owners of foreign works that appear on YouTube can't sue Google for infringement unless those works are registered in the U.S., or are live broadcasts.

U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton has dismissed some damage claims in a class action copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube and Google led by The Football Association Premier League, ruling the copyright holders of foreign works can’t sue Google for punitive damages arising from those materials’ distribution on YouTube—unless those works are registered for copyright in the United States. However, the judge did rule that if the the copyright holder prevail in their infringement suit, they could seek punitive damages for live broadcasts distributed via YouTube, under a “live broadcast exemption” in U.S. copyright law.

The plaintiffs, representing a group of international sports and music copyright holders, had argued foreign works were exempt from the U.S. Copyright Act’s registration requirement. The judge’s ruling does not exempt the plaintiffs from seeking statutory damages, if they should prevail at trial. However, save in the case of live broadcasts, they may not seek punitive damages. The upshot to Google, if it is found guilty of infringement, could be huge: the plaintiff’s recovery could reach into the billions of dollars if they win their case; punitive damages could easily double or triple that amount.

Google has consistently maintained the infringement claims are without merit.

Judge Stanton’s ruling reenforces an earlier ruling he made in Viacom’s $1 billion copyright infringement suit against Google and YouTube. Both suits were filed in 2007, and have have their discovery phases consolidated. In March, Stanton ruled Viacom couldn’t seek common law punitive damages against Google, because they aren’t available under the Copyright Act.

The Football Association Premier League’s suit seeks $1.65 billion in damages.