MoveOn.org Drops Suit Against Viacom
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/23/2007 4:46:00 PM
MoveOn.org says they have dropped the lawsuit they filed against Viacom for having a Colbert Report parody removed from YouTube.
MoveOn, joined by several other groups, sued Viacom last month for allegedly requesting a YouTube parody of the Colbert Report be taken down. Viacom, which has asked for 160,000 videos to be removed for copyright violations, disputes that it issued the take-down notice for this video. According to a copy of a letter supplied by Avazz, Viacom said it recognized fair uses of its material, but also says it reserves the right to make its own determination on what use is fair.
According to a letter supplied by MoveOn, Viacom has since conceded it issued the take-down notice--in error--notes the clip has been restored. The company has further pledged to create a process for reviewing those notices, saying it would "set up a website and email hotline" and promised a review of any complaint within one business day. Viacom had not returned a call for comment at press time, but MoveOne cited that promise in announcing the suit had been dropped.
Viacom asked YouTube to take down some 160,000 clips for copyright violations .
MoveOne was claiming another YouTube victory Monday, saying a clip of Senator John McCain's "bomb Iran" joke, which had been pulled from YouTube, has been reinstated--a check of the site found that to be the case .
