Viacom sues Google for $1 Billion

New York (NY) - Viacom has thrown down the legal gauntlet and is suing Google’s YouTube for $1 Billion dollar. The media giant owns several popular television networks and says that it isn’t being reimbursed for the thousands of clips on the world’s most popular video sharing service. Viacom is also seeking an injunction in the suit that was filed in New York U.S. District Court.

In a press release, Viacom claims that more than 160,000 video clips from its shows are hosted without permission on YouTube and that the clips have been viewed more than 1.5 billion times.

Viacom says that YouTube runs on an "unlawful business model" and in particularly harsh words, at least from a press release standpoint, states "There is no question that YouTube and Google are continuing to take the fruit of our efforts without permission and destroying enormous value in the process."

Viacom and Google were in negotiations for a content sharing agreement, but talks broke off after the sides couldn’t agree on the terms. Now it appears that those talks were much more serious than previously thought.