It’s all over the blogosphere today that Google has been sued for copyright infringement for something that appeared on Google Video. This is a hot news item given the fomenting over Google’s acquisition of YouTube and whether Google will get sunk in infringement lawsuits.
The problem is…I can’t seem to find any evidence of a landmark copyright infringement lawsuit filed against Google for its video activities and the original source that reported the news isn’t very clear at all.
Everything started when AP’s Michael Liedtke reported yesterday that “Google Inc.’s online video service has been sued for copyright infringement.” He offered no other details, except to say that it was in a quarterly filing with the SEC.
That’s about the sum and substance of Liedtke’s report. Well, the only quarterly filing that Google submitted yesterday to the SEC was its 10-Q.
I combed through the document and really couldn’t find what Liedtke was talking about, although admittedly these filings are dense and I could have missed something. At most Google acknowledged that “certain entities” have filed copyright claims against, well, just about everything Google offers, including its web, book and image search services, as well as its news and video offerings.
Here’s the relevant passage, from a lengthy section where Google lays out all the market risks it faces (there’s another section regarding “legal proceedings” but nothing there about this lawsuit):
Certain entities have also filed copyright claims against us, alleging that features of certain of our products and services, including Google Web Search, Google News, Google Video, Google Image Search, and Google Book Search, infringe their rights. In addition, our planned acquisition of YouTube may subject us to additional copyright claims upon the closing of the transaction. Adverse results in these lawsuits may include awards of substantial monetary damages, costly royalty or licensing agreements, or orders preventing us from offering certain functionalities, and may also result in, or even compel, a change in our business practices, which could result in a loss of revenue for us or otherwise harm our business. In addition, generally speaking, any time that we have a product or service that links to or hosts material in which others allege to own copyrights, we face the risk of being sued for copyright infringement or related claims. Because these products and services comprise the majority of our products and services, the risk of harm from such lawsuits could be substantial.
Hmm…that’s so not newsworthy. I’m glad to see Mike at Techdirt raise the appropriate level of skepticism about the vague buzz regarding this lawsuit.
For all we know, this could be the lawsuit that was filed against YouTube over the summer. Chances are it’s something different, but it’s hard to say if it’s substantial or legitimate at this point.
Cynthia Brumfield at 6:19 PM|Comments(0)
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