Andre Yoskowitz
7 Mar 2007 19:41
Mark Cuban the tech billionaire has filed a lawsuit against YouTube asking it to report users who upload videos which one of his investments own the copyrights to.
Last year, when YouTube was purchase by Google, Cuban infamously called the move "moronic." He claimed that the video sharing site was based completely on the illegal distribution of copyrighted material and therefore should not be in existence.
Magnolia Pictures, the film distributor which is partially owned by Cuban is demanding that Google and YouTube report critical details of users who have uploaded clips of its movies, which most famously include the documentaries "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" and "Capturing the Friedmans".
The subpoena expects Google to fork over the user details before March 20th.
Cuban has made it clear however, that the filing is more about making a point to Google and YouTube then to get individual users in trouble. He explained to Reuters this morning that "We don't expect to get valid user information. If we do, we will contact them and ask them what induced them to upload content they don't own."
Fox issued a very similar subpoena in January, except their lawsuit identified one uploader in particular, a man who had uploaded many Simpsons and 24 episodes.
Source:
Theregister