[by Jemima Kiss] Google's head of video partnerships, Patrick Walker, was well briefed for the inevitable question about the $1bn Viacom lawsuit. "We're powering ahead and it's business as usual," he said.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act provides some protection for companies that host content that turns out to be copyright infringing, as long as they quickly remove it when it is identified. There's $1bn at stake over that principle, which, incidentally, is one 28th of the combined personal fortune of Google's co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
The case may take a number of years, Walker said. We have no idea what the landscape will look like by then. Very probably the copyright debate will have moved on significantly, and media companies will have accepted that they have to follow audiences - not try and make them do what they want them to do. But that's just my opinion.
Walker added that the case could have implications for many other organisations, and actually, if Google is found liable for the content posted by users that will have an enormous impact on any site, including mainstream media sites, that host UGC.
He also said that many of the media companies that work with Google see it as promotion rather than simply monetising it at this stage: CBS gets useful feedback from its promo clips on YouTube amongst other benefits, he said.
As for Google competing with traditional publishers, Walker emphasised the partnerships that Google is establishing and he himself is from a mainstream media background. But despite its search technology core, Google also has a team of people recruited from other industries such as publishing and media, and they inform the partnerships and strategy that Google pursues. Is Google is the "frenemy?", asked the chair,Emily Bell, quoting ad execMartin Sorrell.
"We didn't invent the internet, and we didn't invent people's desire to share, review, rate and comment," said Walker.
"We've just done a good job of doing it, and that is threatening to people that prefer to keep things behind a wall. But those that can understand this can partner with us in a way that expands and protects their core business but also helps experiment and drive new business."
