Google, Viacom, and the Eustace Diamonds

Steve Bryant has Viacom's argument as presented in their official complaint. Information Week has an article with Google’s response.

I am guessing this case is a little like The Eustace Diamonds, more complicated than meets the eye. Of course I felt the same way about the SCO lawsuit, and that really seems to have been a simple case of patent warfare.

If you want to be the next Groklaw, this lawsuit offers a great opportunity.

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Nick Madigan, The Baltimore Sun

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Lawrence Lessig: Make way for copyright chaos

The lawsuit represents the biggest face-off between old and new media since the Recording Industry Association of America forced Napster to shut down its song-trading system in 2001. And it could force changes in the delivery of the Internet's biggest draw, its free content, analysts say.

Or it could be a negotiating tactic: Media companies have watched with both fascination and fear as YouTube, which was purchased by search-engine giant Google in November for $1.76 billion, has exploded into a hugely popular online destination, where millions of people view and post videos and short films ranging from the mundane to the bizarre.