Premier League drop YouTube case

The Premier League have stepped down from their six-and-a-half-year legal case against YouTube over copyright infringement, according to a report in The Guardian.

EmpicsThe Premier League will have to pay their own legal costs after walking away from the battle with YouTube.

 

The league launched legal action against the Google-owned video sharing website in 2007 in a bid to protect their TV rights deal after match footage was being recorded and uploaded to the site.

Premier League clubs were immediately prevented from using on-pitch action on their respective YouTube channels and have since only been permitted to share behind-the-scenes and exclusive content.


The French Tennis Federation and several music publishers also joined the Premier League in their challenge of YouTube, but a New York judge ruled it was "unrealistic" to use the claims of all parties in one case.

The Premier League have had the power to remove any match footage they feel jeopardises their rights deal and are likely to continue on this path in the future.
All organisations involved in the legal battle have agreed to walk away from the case and pay their own respective costs.