Viacom Wants to do What it Does Best: Sell Advertising

Congress last attempted to strike a copyright balance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. That law reaffirms the rights of copyright holders but also limits the legal liability of online service providers if they are unaware that others are posting copyrighted material and if they move promptly to remove it when the copyright holder complains.

Some Internet proponents view Viacom’s litigation as typical of lumbering, old-economy dinosaurs.  However, much like the "useful arts" mentioned in the Constitution, the programs owned by Viacom and other entertainment companies cost money to produce. According to the law, these companies have the right to protect that investment.