Viacom Sues Google

Viacom filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Google yesterday for what it says is gross copyright infringement on YouTube, the company's newest acquisition. Google has promised to work with companies to remove copyrighted material, but Viacom complains that illegally posted clips of its programs like "The Daily Show" have been watched on YouTube “an astounding 1.5 billion times.”

Viacom, the parent company of MTV, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central, argues that searching for and requesting removal of such clips, as provided for in copyright law, is an unfair burden. Meanwhile, Google's been taking meetings to convince major media players that YouTube is a free marketing tool, but Viacom's suit indicates they haven't scored yet. (More Viacom stories.)