Youtube but also.. Veoh

We talk a lot about the Youtube’s failure to prevent the uploading of copyrighted material. It is true that Youtube does not view videos before they are posted online. It is also true that Youtube only implements a control a posteriori of the videos, when the copyright holders issue to the Company a notice of violation. However, if we compare Youtube’s policies regarding unauthorized clips or movies with the policies of some of its serious competitors, it seems that Youtube seriously tries to ensure that its online content adheres to the laws of copyright. I especially think about Veoh and Megaupload. Veoh is a company that provides almost the same services as Youtube. Megaupload works a little differently since it is based on an online storage website. However, as Youtube, it also proposes its clients to upload videos on their personal website. According to my personal experience, the control of unauthorized content by these websites is quasi inexistent. While I observe that the copyright material does not stay more than 2 days on Youtube before being removed anymore, the same material is freely available on Veoh or Megaupload for weeks or even months. Because these companies seem to be less careful, the uploaders of copyrighted material seems to have withdrawn from Youtube and adopted the services proposed by its competitors. However, these companies are also threatened to be sued by companies like Universal Music on the same basis argued against Youtube. About this question, it is interesting to notice that by contrast with Youtube, Veoh did not wait to be sued. Veoh decided to fight back and went before a Court to ask for a declaratory judgment that its services are perfectly legal under the DMCA safe harbor provisions. The most interesting fact is that for the moment, the pending lawsuit seems to be at Veoh’s advantage : Lastly, the request made by Universal Music to include Veoh’s investor as part of the lawsuit was dismissed by the judge (which I think is quite logical since we could not include the investor arguing that they “actively encouraged” the copyright violation before establishing that Veoh is infringing). The issue in this law suit will surely have important consequences for the lawsuit between Youtube and Viacom.