Premier League gets kicks out of YouTube lawsuit

By Kevin Hilton

SVG Europe correspondent

The Football Association (FA) Premier League has taken steps to sue YouTube for carrying footage of English premiership football without permission. The League has launched a class action with international music publisher Bourne Co. against the clip-sharing site and its corporate owners, Google, and is hoping others will join in fighting against what is seen as the unauthorized and uncompensated use of copyrighted material.

A complaint was filed at the end of last week in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, naming YouTube Inc, YouTube LLC and Google Inc as defendants. The suit calls for a court-ordered injunction prohibiting the continued violation of a number of copyright protection laws. It also seeks undisclosed damages for past breaches of copyright.

A spokesman for the Premier League said the action was not in reaction to the acquisition of footage of matches but was against YouTube allowing the material to be carried on its service. The law suit accuses the defendants of “purposely” refraining from “employing readily available measures” to curb the activity because the disputed footage has increased the popularity and value of the site.

The Premier League and Bourne are being represented by two leading US law firms, Proskauer Rose LLP and Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann. The Premier League’s spokesman said there was as yet no indication as to when the case would be heard, with the court process running its usual course.