YouTube: Viacom would demand removal of videos it covertly uploaded itself
By Ross Miller 
posted March 18th 2010 5:51PM
posted March 18th 2010 5:51PM
As you may have heard, Viacom and YouTube have been having a little tift lately, in the form of a major lawsuit by the former over copyrighted material posted on the video portal. It's a lawsuit that, according to YouTube, will cause such video sites to "cease to exist in the current form" -- but more importantly, it's a lawsuit that leads to some rather hilarious behind-the-scenes details. Here's a really juicy one that the official YT blog published today by Chief Counsel Zahavah Levine. Word has it that Viacom had hired over the years at least 18 different marketing firms to inconspicuously upload content. We can't really say it better than the posting:Wait, it gets better. According to Levine, Viacom's tactics were so good that the company itself didn't even know which videos it had uploaded, prompting multiple occasions where it would demand a clip removed, only to later ask for its reinstatement. "In fact," she claims, "some of the very clips that Viacom is suing us over were actually uploaded by Viacom itself." Hit up the source link for all the details. Honestly, we can't wait to see what else is dug up in these proceedings."[Viacom] deliberately "roughed up" the videos to make them look stolen or leaked. It opened YouTube accounts using phony email addresses. It even sent employees to Kinko's to upload clips from computers that couldn't be traced to Viacom."
Update: Of course, that's not the whole story. Also revealed in court documents today was discussions by Viacom to -- get this -- purchase YouTube before News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch got the chance to do it himself. Let's be thankful for that judge's decision to unseal all court documents, shall we?
Viacom, you sneaky sneaky bastard!
@CaptainPlanet
I really hope any sort of attempted litigation on behalf of Viacom is nullfied due to this underhanded crap. Awful, awful corporation (though still not as bad as WMG).
@CaptainPlanet
maybe not sneaky enough?
@CaptainPlanet
Someone at Viacom needs to have his/her peepee smashed.
@CaptainPlanet: I hope Viacom wins, and because of safe harbour laws, YouTube manages to pass all the fines on to the illegal uploaders... Viacom. ;)
@CaptainPlanet Wow, can you say one sided story?
Engadget, how about all of the emails Viacom showed with YouTube execs expressly talking about >80% of their hits coming from pirated videos? How about the fact that Viacom is claiming infringement on 63k videos, and that the number they posted is waaay less than that? How about the fact that Google was unable to produce anything that helped prosecution? Schmidt had 19 emails about the entire >$1.5B YouTube acquisition that he gave to the prosecution? Or the testimonies of Brin/Schmidt/etc who "couldn't remember" anything about the YouTube deal?
come on, when google is evil, it is okay to admit it...
@CaptainPlanet just had too
By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!
Captain Planet, he's our hero
Gonna take Viacom down to zero
He's our powers magnified
And he's fighting on youtubes side
Captain Planet, he's our hero
Gonna take Viacom down to zero
Gonna help him put Viacom Lawyers who like to loot and plunder
"You'll pay for this Captain Planet!"
We're the gadgeteers
You can be one too
'Cause saving our planet is the thing to do!
Looting and polluting is not the way
Hear what Captain Planet has to say!
"The Power is Yours!"
@jiriki I would've said viacom was in the right...until they crossed the line to prove a point.
If you really had a solid case, wouldn't you just use the evidence there arleady, instead of trying to fabricate something?
@CtrlBurn finally an awesome comment on engadget. you sir made me laugh.
@jiriki
How about Viacom and their pals would love to destroy innovation and sue their own customers to protect their outdated business model? I lost any pity for these lowlifes long ago...
@CaptainPlanet
I wouldn't be surprised if WMG did the same thing as Viacom. They're the only other company notorious for taking down videos and forcing audioswap. They are seriously hated on YT.
@jiriki
Considering you have only one post, I am pretty sure you are a Viacom employee. If not, I apologize, but if so, this only shows how sick this company truly is.
@John W Harding
nope, not a viacom employee... I just came from arstechnica, where they had a very good/balanced two page article that showed how viacom, youtube, and google are all in the wrong. Coming from that to an Engadget fluff piece about "big content bad!!111" was disappointing.
only 1 comment because I haven't commented since engadget made a singon mandatory.
@jiriki "only 1 comment because I haven't commented since engadget made a singon mandatory."
When did singing become mandatory? I don't want to be caught singing at my computer...
@WindowsPhone7Series
I wouldn't mind knowing how you, never mind Viacom, know that IM conversation went on at all.
LOL Viacom fail
Bored attorneys at work. Want that new BMW? Not enough caseload for your liking? How's about MAKING a legal problem that you have control over, then fixing it yourself? Genius.
Wild and Crazy Kids, man how I love the 90's. Old School Nickelodeon FTW!!!
@AlienSix lets do the time warp.. Nick ARCADE man i miss the 90's :( to bad Visuck closed nick studios Orlando :( my childhood dream was crush in 2008 :(
@angelwolf
Do you remember the episode of Nick Arcade where they had people from nick shows doing it for charity. I enjoyed when they had the danny guy from Pete and Pete.
god i hope viacom gets destroyed in this lawsuit.
moves like this by media companies make me sick. don't they make the content to make people laugh?! isn't the point of it for people to see it and enjoy it?! o no wait, i forgot its all about making money....
@spasewalkr You are naive as hell if you think companies create something for your enjoyment. Capitalism ?
@SarnGate Well, Before you go calling people names, companies do make things for people's enjoyment. If people didn't enjoy the product, they wouldn't buy it.
@spasewalkr: companies don't make content.
People do, in exchange for small pieces of their souls ;) because companies have the distribution channels to reach the widest audience.
Thankfully, the power of monolithic distribution systems (major record labels and film/TV) are not QUITE as powerful as they once were, but this model is going to take another generation or two to truly change.
@scots79
to be fair, i think writers create content for their own edification and the enjoyment of others, studios just approve or deny/modify it.
@scots79
I think you're on the wrong end of a chicken/egg thing here... companies don't make things for you to enjoy, they make things to make money. The fact that they have to make something you enjoy in order to make money is secondary.
The proof in concept?
Which do you think is the ideal situation for a media company if they had to pick one or the other?
Making content you love without making money;
or...
Making money without having to make content you love.
Match. Set. Point. Goal. Score. And, um, Touchdown.
tiff or rift, there's no tift
@spin cycle
Right you are.
Here, Ross: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIFF_%28disambiguation%29
English. Do you speak it?
Just more of a reason to hope Viacom loses this. How insanely embarrassing.
Speaking of wild and crazy kids, anyone remember the name of that show that was kind of a predecessor of "All That"? I think it took place in a dome-like building and they occasionally slimed their guests? That show was awesome.
@MarcusMaximus You Can't do that on Television. and yes, it was awesome.
@MarcusMaximus Round House i loved that show my saterdays at 4pm have never been the same since it was cancelded btw it was filmed at the now closed Orlando Studios
@MarcusMaximus are you thinking of "you can't say that on TV" ?
@angelwolf Round House! Thank you!
@MarcusMaximus
Check this out:
http://www.ycdtotv.com/
The only real You Can't Do That On Television left. Full of facts, clips, etc...
Oh wait, I probably shouldn't have posted that... now Viacom is going to sue YCDTOTV.com.
Fail.
@MarcusMaximus
Roundhouse?? WTF is roundhouse??
YCDTOTV was the original show done in a dome that slimed people... in fact, YCDTOTV was the first show to introduce the slime that ultimately became Nick's brand identity.
What you're saying is like,
"What was that cartoon with the robots that turned into stuff?"
"Oh, transformers?"
"No, Go-Bots!" Go-Bots can never be better than the Transformers, and whatever this Roundhouse crap is can never be better than good 'ol Canadian YCDTOTV.
I'm not saying that viacom did or didn't do this, but can youtube actually prove this?
Wouldn't be suprised if this was actually the truth.
even pre-k kids don't behave like this!
@who said what
Just wait till they fully implement the one laptop per child program. Then you'll see what those little hellions are capable of!
@r34p3r you mean to say li'l johnny will get his homework copied onto sally's laptop via harry the nerd using the school library computer and them complain to the teacher?! (or maybe settle it outside the classroom?)
Smdh @ Viacom
"In fact," he claims, "some of the very clips that Viacom is suing us over were actually uploaded by Viacom itself."
Zahavah Levine is a woman. Therefore, it'd be "she claims," not "he claims,"
@Lord Vader
Who knew Lord Vader had a soft spot, for a talking sponge?
It seems to me that this would basically invalidate the lawsuit if true. If Viacom does not have a proper record of what clips it uploaded vs. what clips outsiders uploaded, how can it quantify damages even assuming they win the case? And how would they win the case, if they're not even sure who is uploading what? For all they know, all of their clips on YouTube were actually uploaded by marketing companies under contract to Viacom.
@badasscat It's quite moronic to do something like this.
It's like hiding something you broke and then later try and blame it on someone else, even though you got away with hiding it.
Leave Youtube alone viacom!
Viacom, You slimy son-of-a-bitch.
SHAME ON YOU!
Hahaha, this is truly lulzworthy.
Viacom is now on my shitlist.
Left hand, meet right hand. Right hand, left.
I vote Viacom to win the Enron Award