A Milan prosecutor is reportedly
investigating two legal representatives of Google for being accessories to "aggravated
defamation" after the Internet search engine posted a video showing the violent
bullying of a disabled teenager. A spokeswoman for Google in Europe said the
internet search engine was sorry for the distress caused and had acted swiftly
when it was informed of the video's content.
Google France was sued by Flach
Film, a French film producer, for copyright infringement. They claim their video,
"The World According to Bush," was published on Google Video France, and viewed
more 50,000 times, before Google removed the video. "We made estimates of the
prejudice, and it goes well beyond 500,000 euros ($648,700). The film has been
downloaded about 50,000 times, and it has certainly been copied afterwards,"
Jean-Francois Lepetit, producer of the film, told Reuters in a telephone
interview.
November 23, 2006:
French film producer sues Google France, Reuters:
"The producer of "The World According to Bush" has taken legal action
against Google for distributing the film for free, becoming the latest media
company to seek compensation for lost business on the Internet."
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