Viacom Hires Former Solicitor General For YouTube Appeal

from the politics-gone-mad dept

Wed, Oct 20th 2010 11:33pm — Mike Masnick

Viacom certainly isn't messing around in its appeal of its fight against YouTube, which Viacom lost big time in the first round. The company has apparently brought on high profile superstar lawyer Ted Olson, the former Solicitor General under George W. Bush to handle the appeal. Bringing Olson in is probably more about preparing for the inevitable Supreme Court review of this case, but clearly Viacom wasn't happy with how its existing legal team did in the first round, where it couldn't even get past summary judgment.

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Filed Under: copyright, ted olsen
Companies: google, viacom, youtube

7 Comments

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out_of_the_blue, 21 Oct 2010 @ 5:52am

For the right results, hire a connected lawyer.
Olsen is about as deep in it as any, so I give Viacom a good chance of success.

All you really need to know about Olsen is that the story of the phone call from his wife on 9/11 can't be verified (in any version):
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8514
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Pickle Monger (profile), 21 Oct 2010 @ 6:16am

Ted Olson
First of all, I'm pretty sure it's Olson and not Olsen.
Second, considering his (shared) success in bringing down Prop 8, he's got a good chance of success.
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TDR, 21 Oct 2010 @ 7:48am

Isn't there a way for the right of appeal to be denied? So this doesn't drag on for an eternity?
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Free Capitalist (profile), 21 Oct 2010 @ 8:05am

Re:
One would think that a lawsuit being patently frivolous or obviously social engineering would be enough to deny an appeal. However in practice that standard doesn't seem to hold for corporations. Corporations are treated like individuals only when the rights and treatment of an individual would be better than the advantage of having very deep pockets.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Oct 2010 @ 8:14am

This is the jerkwad that filed lawsuits to try to overturn the laws that were put into place by the Congress of the United States. If the Bushies didn't like a law or found it restricted them, then they sued using public money to try and overturn the law. This guy is a weasel and should be put up against a wall and shot as a traitor.

When Cheney or George W. die I will carry a sign celebrating the fact that another traitor to freedom has been erased. I just added his name to the list.
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Mike Masnick (profile), 21 Oct 2010 @ 10:17am

Re: Ted Olson
First of all, I'm pretty sure it's Olson and not Olsen.

Oops. You're correct. Fixed. Thanks.
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Anonymous Coward, 21 Oct 2010 @ 11:47am

Trial practice and appellate practice are sufficiently distinct that it is not at all unusual for appellate counsel to be appointed, and this is especially true if a trip to the Supreme Court is a future possibility.
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