UMG appeals Veoh ruling

TWIN APPEALS: Take a number, boys. UMG’s appeal of its loss in a copyright infringement case against Veoh will probably be heard before Viacom's appeal of its similar loss of a suit brought against YouTube, according to the Hollywood Reporter. That means the ruling on the UMG appeal will quite possibly weigh on the determination of Viacom’s appeal. The lower courts in both cases ruled that providers can’t be held liable for copyright infringement committed by end users, under the "safe harbor" provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In arguments just submitted to the Ninth Circuit Court, Veoh's attorney Erin Ranahan asserted that "UMG's interpretation of the law would, if applied, wreak havoc on a variety of new-media portals like Yahoo, Google and Facebook." Both Veoh and YouTube have maintained that they take down videos when notified by copyright holders on a case-by-case basis, thus complying with the terms of the DMCA. (7/22a)