English Premier League Soccer, music publishers Bourne & Co, the Rugby Football League, the Finnish Football League and various boxing promoters, authors and other video content producers have joined a class action against YouTube in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The content providers argue that YouTube has encouraged copyright breaches through its video-sharing site, and that the company’s entire business model is based on breaches of intellectual property law.
Viacom, the US media giant and owner of the MTV music network, sued Google and YouTube in May for US$1 billion, alleging copyright breaches.
Google and YouTube have denied the charges of content providers, saying the companies all misunderstand the nature of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which seeks to balance the rights of content owners with that of users and the internet services they use.
Premier League soccer spokesman Dan Johnson said the organisation was pleased that so many companies have joined the action.
“The clear and growing message to YouTube and Google is simple: their callous and opportunistic business model is contrary to right, contrary to law, and must and will be stopped,” Mr Johnson said.
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