Universal Music Too Impatient To Wait For Earlier Lawsuit Results; Sues Veoh

from the you-sued-me?--ok,-I'll-sue-you dept

Thu, Sep 6th 2007 8:28am — Mike Masnick

A month ago, we detailed the long history of Universal Music mistakenly suing just about every online video hosting firm (other than Google's YouTube, who gave Universal Music a sweetener to sue everyone else and skip YouTube). The conclusion to that story was that, following a typical "pay up or else" threat from Universal Music, video hosting site Veoh took the initiative and preemptively sued to have a judge claim that what it was doing was perfectly legal. Rather than wait to hear what the judge has to say on the matter, Universal Music simply went right ahead and sued Veoh anyway. Once again, this is a misguided lawsuit against a company that is doing nothing wrong for a service that isn't taking any money away from Universal Music. People sometimes complain that we spend too much time pointing out the mistakes of the recording industry. We'd love to stop it -- but the record label execs seem to have absolutely no recognition for how badly they continue to muck up their own businesses.

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Filed Under: copyright, safe harbor
Companies: universal music, veoh

9 Comments

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Sanguine Dream, 6 Sep 2007 @ 8:57am

Long gone are the days...
when a lawsuit was a last resort in a situation in which someone genuinely felt they were wrong by a offending party. These days suing is the first step. It's like law professors are teaching their students to sue first and ask questions later. Damn shame...
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2007 @ 9:10am

Re: Long gone are the days...
when a lawsuit was a last resort in a situation in which someone genuinely felt they were wrong by a offending party. These days suing is the first step. It's like law professors are teaching their students to sue first and ask questions later. Damn shame...

It's simple. The cost of a lawsuit has become so astronomical for the target company, that it's cheaper to settle. This in turn spawns a whole rash of lawsuits that are geared specifically for settlement (Example: RIAA suing their customers randomly).
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satan, 6 Sep 2007 @ 9:36am

section 230
nuff said
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that's not true, 6 Sep 2007 @ 10:10am

Re: Long gone are the days...
Any individual can stand up to the ridiculous threats from RIAA, people are just sheep though and have no balls anymore. I'd love for them to come after me for any reason, I would in turn bury their case, too many people think just because you get sued you will actually have to pay. You can't get blood from a turnip, as the old saying goes.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2007 @ 11:33am

FUCK THe RECORORD COMPANIES! WE DONT NEED THEM! BURN BABY BURN!
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non-corporatist american, 6 Sep 2007 @ 12:41pm

Re: Long gone are the days...
It is greed that drives our corrupt society. Now what we have is a place where the person with the most money gets their way, not the person in the right. Is that America?
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Mike, 6 Sep 2007 @ 1:27pm

Re: Re: Long gone are the days...
Yes it is America, and that is exactly why people hate them, and rightly so. Much of the wealth that flows into America DIRECTLY contributes to keeping impoverished nations impoverished, takes control of valuable resources away from third world countries and directs the flow of cash right back to the US, nevermind that the money is desperately needed in those countries, as long as profits flow to the US.
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Ed C., 6 Sep 2007 @ 4:27pm

Re: Re: Re: Long gone are the days...
Not completely true. The US doesn't actually make most of it's own products anymore. The massive production offshoring to 2nd and 3rd world countries like China has led to an astronomical trade deficit, and most of the money going out funds dictatorships and oppressive regimes. It's sad that a country that champions freedom of individuals turns a blind eye to the fact that in their endless pursuit of the quick buck and throwaway products, they are passively destroying the freedoms of others.
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Sep 2007 @ 7:22am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Long gone are the days...
Passively nothing. The US government knows full well what it is does. Outsourcing production. Trying to make the entire world conform to US IP standards. Funding any faction that is willing to take on a regime that is veiwed as a threat to the American way of life or as they call it, freedom...even if they have to help another faction overthrow that one decades down the road. The US is trying to establish itself as the only superpower in the world plain and simple.
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