Reports – French Broadcaster Sues YouTube for 100 Million

Numerous reports are surfacing about new litigation against popular video sharing site YouTube. It appears that French broadcaster TF1 is suing the major video sharing site for 100 million euros.

Note: This is an article I wrote that was published elsewhere first. It has been republished here for archival purposes

The reports surfaced on Reuters and moved to other major outlets like The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

The initial reports say that TF1 is Frances largest private broadcaster. The 100 million euro suit is the equivalent of about $155 million USD. Variety notes that this is the same broadcaster that is currently suing another major video sharing site ‘DailyMotion’.

Said the reports, the lawsuit was filed in California, but will be heard by a French court.

It may lead one to wonder if there are similarities between the lawsuit by TF1 against YouTube and the lawsuit against ThePirateBay from Holleywood. Clearly, there are geographical barriers, legally speaking, to overcome. In the US, there is the digital Millennium Copyright act which has allowed YouTube to operate in the first place. Essentially speaking, if you find your work on YouTube and like it removed, you go through YouTubes process of getting a take-down notice. If anything else, some have criticized for making it too easy to take a video down.

The reports also rightfully note that Viacom is currently attempting to sue YouTube for $1 billion USD.

Hat tip: BNA Internet Law News via Michael Geist

Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Google+.