Modified On August 14, 2007
YouTube will depose Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert as part of their defense against a bundle of lawsuits.
The lawsuits claim, in essence, that YouTube profits from massive copyright infringement of television programs and feature films. The documents seeking the depositions of Stewart and Colbert pertained only to the Viacom lawsuit.
YouTube says it needs depositions from more than 30 people to fight legal challenges that “threaten to silence communications by hundreds of millions of people across the globe who exchange information, news and entertainment” through its Web site.
The other plaintiffs are a British Soccer League and a music publisher.
There will be no rollicking courtroom appearance by the two, just a quiet powwow around a tape recorder of some sort, at a conference table in an office building somewhere, attended by a battery of attorneys for YouTube and an attorney or two for the deposed.
The outcome could have some long-term ramifications. It’s a watershed case in the short history of the WWW. Read the recap here.