YouTube v Fox Pits Net Against Network

YouTube has been subpoenaed by Twentieth Century Fox following the posting of what was at the time unbroadcast episodes of the hit TV series 24 and The Simpsons on the video-sharing website.

The subpoena, filed in a California court on January 18, demands that YouTube provide information identifying the subscriber who posted the clips on the site so that Fox can prevent further infringement of its copyright.

The case pits behemoths of the old and new media against each other, and threatens the free-spirited ethos that underpins file-sharing websites such as YouTube.

Fox issued a subpoena regarding the same material to another file-sharing site, LiveDigital, which said it had complied with the request and immediately removed the items. YouTube has not commented on the case, although the disputed videos did not appear to be on the site.

The episode of 24 is particularly embarrassing for Fox. The new season of the hit series was the centrepiece of Fox's January schedules. But the four-hour premiere, which debuted with much fanfare, was posted in its entirety on YouTube before being aired on television.

The 12 episodes of The Simpsons identified in the subpoena were also posted online before being broadcast.

The subpoena, first revealed on the blog Google Watch, said the files were being distributed by a user with the web name ECOtotal. The same group of files was posted to LiveDigital by a user with the name Jorge Romero.

The subpoena declares: "Fox has not authorised this distribution or display of the works. The subpoena requests YouTube Inc to disclose information sufficient to identify the subscriber so that Fox can stop this infringing activity."

It also states that Fox informed YouTube of the infringement on January 8, six days before the television premiere of 24.

Fox had a similar issue with YouTube last year, when an episode of the sitcom Family Guy was posted on the site before being aired on TV. In that case, the user who uploaded the episode was identified by Fox.

In May last year, Paramount Pictures issued a subpoena to YouTube demanding it reveal the identity of a user who posted a 12-minute clip from the feature film Twin Towers. YouTube complied and the studio, which is owned by Viacom, sued the user for copyright infringement.

Cases of piracy and copyright infringement surrounding file-sharing websites suggest that the notion they can provide an alternative to the entertainment industry has been abandoned as they become assimilated into the mainstream.

For the entertainment industry, there is a concern that revenue is being lost and that the sites themselves should be held liable. The Motion Picture Association estimates that major film studios lost about $2.3bn to internet piracy in 2005.

On the other side of the debate there is alarm that YouTube and other sites are monitoring users' identities and activities, and are too willing to side with the entertainment industry.

YouTube, founded in 2005, was bought from its three founders last year by Google for $1.65bn. Twentieth Century Fox is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which bought the social networking site MySpace in 2005.