In December Universal Music lost a key decision against Veoh, with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the US ruling that the website benefits from safe harbour protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Universal, and related content-owning companies, had sued the video-hosting site for direct and contributory infringement in September 2007. They alleged that it allowed infringing content to be accessed and was therefore liable under the DMCA.
But in 2009 a judge granted Veoh summary judgment, finding that it had met all the safe harbour requirements in the DMCA. The latest decision upheld that finding.
The case is similar to that between Viacom and YouTube, in which a decision from the Second Circuit is awaited.
It also comes as Congress is debating new legislation, known as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), to deal with websites that host infringing content. That legislation proved so controversial that...