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Google sued over Video

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.
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Elinor Mills

Google has been sued for copyright infringement over Google Video and faces additional lawsuits over its purchase of YouTube, the company said in documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

"Certain entities have also filed copyright claims against us, alleging that features of certain of our products, including Google Web Search, Google News, Google Video, Google Image Search, and Google Book Search, infringe their rights. In addition, our planned acquisition of YouTube may also subject us to additional copyright claims upon the closing of the transaction. Adverse results in these lawsuits may include awards of damages and may also result in, or even compel, a change in our business practices, which could result in a loss of revenue for us or otherwise harm our business," the filing said.

Lawsuits against Web search, News and Book Search have been reported previously, but not Google Video litigation.

Google representatives did not return an e-mail seeking comment.

Google last month announced it was acquiring popular video sharing site YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock. To appease media companies who see their copyrighted programming posted on YouTube daily, YouTube has removed some content and has cut deals with other media companies.

Meanwhile, YouTube by a company with the Web address "Utube.com" over confusion caused by the similar domain names.