Google responds to Viacom/YouTube suit

Mountain View (CA) - In a written response to its lawsuit from Viacom, Google said that the steps YouTube has taken "go well above and beyond what the law requires."

The lawsuit hinges upon the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DCMA), set into place nearly 10 years ago. The DCMA says copyright holders must first ask websites with pirated content to take it down and allow ample time for that to happen before taking legal action. Viacom, however, says that YouTube is not even protected under the DCMA.

In its federal court filing, Google says, "Google and YouTube respect the importance of intellectual property rights, and not only comply with their safe harbor obligations under the DMCA, but go well above and beyond what the law requires."