Premier League to sue YouTube
Updated on 07 May 2007
The English Premier League is to sue internet site YouTube for alleged copyright infringement.
The organisation said the video-sharing website had "knowingly misappropriated" its intellectual property by encouraging footage to be viewed on its site.
The BBC reported that the English Premier League and US music publisher Bourne launched the legal action in New York, claiming unspecified damages.
They said YouTube had consciously encouraged people to view content on its site in order to raise its profile, violating the material's commercial value.
"Defendants which own and operate YouTube have knowingly misappropriated and exploited this valuable property for their own gain without payment or licence to the owners of the intellectual property," the lawsuit reportedly said.
YouTube, owned by search engine Google, already faces a £500 million lawsuit from media giant Viacom, accusing it of illegally showing clips from its TV shows.
YouTube has denied those claims, saying the suit threatens the internet.
The combined TV, radio and internet rights to show live Premier League games and highlights over the next three years fetched £2.7 billion in a series of auctions, making protecting its right a priority for the Premier League bosses.
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