Eight hundred pound entertainment gorilla Viacom Inc. recently filed a federal copyright infringement complaint against another eight hundred pound gorilla – Google – the owner of the popular Internet video-sharing Web site YouTube. In its complaint, Viacom contends that 160,000 plus unauthorized clips of its programming have been illegally available on YouTube, and have been viewed more than 1.5 billion times. In their suit, Viacom is seeking more than $1 billion in damages.

Under Federal law, “willful” violations of copyrighted material can result in fines of up to $150,000 for each violation. As evidenced by Viacom’s lawsuit, copyright infringement can get expensive quickly. However, before you go and sell off all of your Google stock, take note – many legal scholars feel that if this matter finds its way into a courtroom, Viacom has a better than average chance of winding up on the losing side thanks to a Federal law passed in 1998. The law being referenced is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Despite the fact that many in Congress were opening up their first email accounts in 1998, it became apparent that the Internet was a new frontier that possessed unique difficulties relating to copyright law. Given that most material on the Internet is user-generated, it would be incredibly difficult for hosts of sites that allow third party users to upload material to monitor all material for possible copyright infringement. Given the difficulty involved in constant monitoring and given the possibility of unlimited lawsuits, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Under the DMCA, hosts of content uploaded by third-party users must be given notice of the copyright infringement by the owner before they are required to take it down. However, once notice is properly given, the host must “expeditiously” take the infringing content down. By all accounts, Google has a good track record of quickly removing copyrighted content once notice is provided. This track record will allow Google to make the argument that they are complying with the law and that the law is operating as intended by its drafters.

The safe harbor provision of the DMCA eliminates the need for Google or any other host of third-party generated content to engage in the daunting task of monitoring every newly added piece of content for possible copyright infringement. If this was required, it is unlikely that we would have the current versions of eBay, Amazon or numerous other popular sites. The DMCA seems to have struck the right balance in eliminating the burden of constant monitoring while providing a mechanism for copyright owners to require a host to remove infringing material.

Industry insiders believe that Viacom’s lawsuit is nothing more than a negotiation ploy for striking a deal with Google. Given the amount of money that is at stake and given that the Internet is roaring full steam ahead, it is likely that we will see a partnership between these two giants in the near future – not a courtroom battle.