Fox has supoenaed Google’s YouTube to find out which users uploaded episodes of 24 and The Simpsons according to Google Watch’s Steve Bryant.
The subpoena includes the testimony of Jane Sunderland, vice president of content protection and anti-piracy for the Fox Entertainment Group.
Sunderland’s portion of the subpoena, which is her personal testimony that the infringing activity is occurring, says that Fox has been unable to determine on their own who has been uploading the Works. The uploaded Works are also causing Fox irreparable harm (standard legal language).
Sunderland also testifies that Fox sent an official letter to YouTube on January 8. Although I haven’t been in touch with News Corp yet, I assume YouTube didn’t remove the videos promptly enough, hence the official subpoena.
Some searches on YouTube reveal that the episodes may have been pulled, but this lawsuit is of interest as Fox Television episodes are also available on MySpace Video, which is a direct competitor of YouTube, yet a major Google partner.
Will such further conflicts take their toll on the Google & Fox Interactive relationship?
More from Hollywood Reporter:
This is not an unprecedented request for YouTube. In May, before its $1.65 billion acquisition by Google, the site complied with a Paramount Pictures request to identify a user who shot his own unauthorized short film adapted from the screenplay of the Oliver Stone film “World Trade Center.”
But Google has a history of fighting subpoenas seeking the names of those using its services.
