With yet another oral argument looming, Viacom Inc. and Google Inc.’s YouTube have inked an out-of-court settlement in their precedent-setting copyright fight over video uploads. It’s hard to declare a winner in the deal, since the terms aren’t public. But the underlying court battle has brought mostly good news for Google and its lawyers at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.
The settlement, first made public on Tuesday, resolves allegations by Viacom that YouTube allowed its users to turn the video-sharing website into a haven for copyright infringement. Viacom, the parent company of TV channels like Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, sought $1 billion in damages from Google, claiming it knowingly turned a blind eye to infringing uploads of Viacom content like the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
