YouTube wins an important case against Telecinco involving the liability of Internet platforms
Carolina Pina’s team at the IP Department advised YouTube in the appeal pitting it against Telecinco in an IP infringement claim. The judgment is extremely important because it concludes that platforms cannot be compelled to supervise or control users’ content.
The decision basically confirms that YouTube is an intermediary service provider that benefits from a special liability regime releasing it from the obligation to monitor or actively filter the videos uploaded by users.
It also holds that the general notices Telecinco sent YouTube or the presence of the famous Telecinco “bug” (i.e. logo) on the infringing content do not trigger YouTube’s liability. Furthermore, the court argues that if the general requests made by Telecinco to withdraw the content had been heeded, the identification of the specific content was so imprecise that it would in practice be imposing an obligation to actively monitor the content hosted on the platform, which is contrary to article 15 of the Electronic Commerce Directive.
This interesting and elaborate judgment is unquestionably an unprecedented success for internet platforms and the extent to which they can be held liable for the content they host.
Garrigues Intellectual Property Department
