Universal vs. Veoh: Score 1 for Music 2.0

Over the holidays Universal Music Group lost a major lawsuit to online video sharing site Veoh. Much like the many lawsuits flying around between the major labels and music 2.0 companies that enable fans to upload content, Universal sought to make Veoh responsible for any copyright violations the fan may have incurred - like the time you added Dylan's “Like A Rolling Stone" as a sondtrack to the home video of you throwing your kid brther down a flight of stairs. Viacom and YouTube locked in a court similar battle that promises to be the the clash of the titans on this issue.

In the UMG vs.Veoh lawsuit, the courts declared once again that Section 512 B of the Digital Millenium Copywirght Act provides “safe harbor" for sites like Veoh and YouTube. While they do have to respond to requests by rights holders to take down offending content, they are not responsible for the actions of the uploader.

While all related issues are far from resolved, the opposite ruling would have placed a dark cloud over all fan generated content and the companies that enable it.