Federal court again dismisses Viacom’s $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube over copyrights

NEW YORK, N.Y. – For the second time in three years, a federal judge has dismissed Viacom’s $1 billion copyright lawsuit against YouTube, saying the online video site doesn’t have to police itself as long as it removes infringing videos when copyright owners give notice.

U.S. District Court Judge Louis Stanton in New York ruled Thursday that Viacom never proved YouTube was aware of thousands of videos Viacom said were stolen from its TV networks.

Viacom Inc. says it will appeal.

The ruling upholds Stanton’s original decision from June 2010. Last April, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals returned the case to the district court for re-evaluation, saying a jury might conclude YouTube was aware it was hosting pirated material.

YouTube owner Google Inc. says the ruling marks an important day for the Internet.

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