Rodney Smolla, dean of Washington and Lee School of Law, recently wrote a white paper for West about the increase in user-generated online video and the legal implications.
The white paper also led us to spend some time with him recording a Westcast podcast on the topic.
It’s all connected to Viacom’s lawsuit against Google, claiming violation of copyright in clips posted to YouTube.
“This is the mother of all copyright suits and the implications are staggering,” Smolla told us on Westcast. “Both sides have some very strong legal arguments, there are billions of dollars at stake and I’d be a fool to guess who’s going to win.”
Smolla’s white paper is titled “The Billion-Dollar Battle Between Viacom and Google: Commercialization of User-Generated Content and Copyright Protections Afforded to Parody.”
It can be accessed on the West Web site. The Westcast podcast with Smolla is here. A news release includes more information.
