As if Viacom’s $1 Billion dollar Viacom lawsuit against YouTube is not enough, a pair of law firms have filed a class action lawsuit in New York against Google/Youtube for copyright infringement.  Do you have any material that has been pirated on Youtube?

In reality, it may be hard to make class action status stick.  In order to “certify” the class action, the court will look to see if there is a common factual basis for all of the plaintiffs.  For example, in a products liability case, all of the plaintiffs were arguably injured by the same manner (i.e. we all took drug X and now we all have heart problems).  In the case of YouTube’s alleged copyright infringement, every plaintiff will have different facts.  Who owned the copyright?  Did the person who posted the videa have rights in the work? Was use of the material a fair use? etc., etc., etc.

Google/YouTube will undoubtedly cloak itself in the – we are protecting free speech, mom and apple pie – banner.  In fact, Google is now trying to make Viacom out to be a threat to the Internet.  Both sides have some legitimate arguments.  The real question will be – who wins?  Those who create creative content or those who want to take other’s creativity for free.