Spain’s Telecinco TV Net Claims Victory In YouTube Copyright Injunction

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Spain’s Telecinco TV Net Claims Victory In YouTube Copyright Injunction

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Spain’s Telecinco TV channel has claimed victory in its legal case against YouTube. The formal result is not yet out but, citing “judicial sources”, Telecinco says a Madrid court granted an injunction to stop the video site distributing its shows “without express authorisation”.

The national network brought the case last month, arguing YouTube was hurting it by airing episodes of popular TV shows to which it has rights before it shows them in Spain (ie. US drama imports).

A YouTube spokesperson told paidContent:UK: “We have not yet received an official decision from the judge, but YouTube respects the legal rights of copyright holders. Rather than filing legal motions, we are happy to work with any content owners to remove their content. We have hundreds of partners in Europe and thousands around the world who take advantage of the latest technologies we have developed to help them effectively protect and manage their content on the site.”

YouTube had said earlier said the TV channel hadn’t actually notified it about illegal material, but Telecinco argued Google (NSDQ: GOOG) “profits from the exploitation of intellectual property rights” - Telecinco says the court judged this was “amply demonstrated”, according to AFP and Telecinco’s own triumphalist report.

This won’t necessarily bolster the Viacom (NYSE: VIA) and TF1 cases, which will be heard, of course, in different jurisdictions, but it’s fundamentally a case about intellectual property, which is a largely international concept. Main difference with the Telecinco and TF1 suits is that they concern the availability on YouTube of clips of US shows to which it holds localised rights.

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By Robert Andrews