Hearing that the Universal Music Group (UMG) was considering filing suit against it for copyright infringement, video-sharing site Veoh has decided that attack is the best form of defense. It’s filed suit against UMG, asking a judge to prevent UMG from filing a copyright infringement action. It’s a bold and unusual step, but Veoh claims it’s entitled to protection under the safge harbour provision of U.S. copyright law, since it doesn’t encourage its users toinfringe copyright and goes beyond legal requirements to investigate and remove offending material. Veoh has asked a judge to declare that it has no liability to Universal even if users upload videoswith music by Universal artists without permission. The company has taken the action after being informed by Universal last month that the giant was considering suing it for “massivecopyright infringement.” Veoh said Universal offered it no details. “It is unfortunate that U.M.G. prefers to take actions that are designed to stifle innovation, shut down newmarkets and maintain the status quo instead of working to change and evolve models for today and the future,” Veoh’s chief executive, Steve Mitgang, said in a statement. Previously, Universal head threatened to sue Google-owned YouTube, but the two sides struck a licensing deal instead.
The EU’s top antitrust official on Wednesday described a deal among Apple Inc.’s iTunes, music companies, distributors and online licensing groups as a “great breakthrough” that would roll out more Internet music sales across Europe.
