Mediaset and Google resolve YouTube row

After eight years of litigation over copyright material being made available on YouTube, Italian broadcaster Mediaset and Google have finalised an agreement to collaborate.

The deal will see Mediaset and Google develop a joint strategy to protect content rights, while Mediaset will also develop its digital presence by making content available on YouTube.

Mediaset filed a suit against Google, which owns YouTube, over copyright infringement in 2008, demanding €800 million (US$905 million) and alleging that the US internet company had benefited from making advertising revenue around Mediaset content that had illegally been made available on the site.

Mediaset argued at the time that it had identified 4,643 titles to which it owned the copyright that had been made available on the site.

A similar court battle between Google and Viacom settled in March last year, with both sides saying a “growing collaborative dialogue” was developing.