Ouch! YouTube is probably feeling the burn with this one. Viacom has decided to slap YouTube with a $1 billion lawsuit over damages for copyright infringement. We knew they weren’t getting along so well after Viacom cracked the whip and demanded YouTube remove 100,000 unauthorized video clips. They mean serious business at this point, and now YouTube and Google will have a battle to fight.









What does this mean for YouTube and Google? Well, it could mean a lot of things. Considering Google paid $1.6 Billion for YouTube in the first place (Viacom is seeking $1 Billion), they may be rethinking the biggest purchase of 2006.

Viacom states that YouTube has “built a lucrative business out of exploiting the devotion of fans to others’ creative works in order to enrich itself and its corporate parent Google.”And because Viacom’s networks tend to cater to the younger tech savvy crowd who turn to the Internet to get their entertainment, YouTube is/was definitely a threat.

Just for the sake of what if’s – what if Google hadn’t acquired YouTube? It would most certainly mean that YouTube would have had to shut themselves down. Google can afford the legal team to fight this, but is it worth it? People turn to YouTube most often for copyrighted material, not the silly home-videos that are posted.

I’m far from a legal expert, but this is probably one of the largest lawsuits of its’ kind in terms of dollar amount. Google will definitely be feeling the sting from this one!

Source: AP via Yahoo & CyberNet Forum