Mediaset sues Google over YouTube clips

Italian media group Mediaset is suing Google and its YouTube unit for 500m euros ($779m) for alleged illegal commercial use of copyrighted video clips.

According to the suit filed in a court in Rome, a random visit in June to YouTube found at least 4,643 videos and clips owned by Mediaset, equivalent to more than 325 hours of transmission. The company said this was equal to the loss of 315,672 days of broadcasting by its three TV channels.

YouTube said it takes copyright issues seriously and there is no need for any legal action and the associated costs. It said it can identify unauthorized clips through video-recognition technology and remove them.

The suit follows similar lawsuits from Viacom, French TV network TF1, and Spanish broadcaster Telecinco.

In a complaint filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Viacom said that nearly 160,000 unauthorized clips of its entertainment programming were available on YouTube and demanded more than $1 billion in damages. Similarly, TF1 filed a suit alleging copyright infringement, seeking damages of 100m euros ($156m). Spain's Telecinco channel also claimed intellectual property infringement by YouTube.

The Mediaset suit is the second major setback for Google in Italy. Last week, Italian prosecutors said that they would charge four Google executives for failing to monitor content, including a video of youths taunting an autistic classmate.

YouTube was acquired by Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion.

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