ITALY:Italian broadcaster Mediaset has sued internet search company Google and its subsidiary YouTube for €500 million for illegally using its material.
Mediaset, controlled by prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, joins others broadcasters seeking compensation from YouTube, a video-sharing website, for copyright infringement.
Mediaset filed a suit in a Rome court, the company said yesterday. A YouTube spokeswoman said it did not see the need for the legal case. "YouTube respects copyright holders and takes copyright issues very seriously," the spokeswoman said in London.
Google bought YouTube in 2006. "There is no need for legal action . . . We prohibit users from uploading infringing material and we co-operate with all copyright holders to identify and promptly remove infringing content as soon as we are officially notified," Google said separately.
YouTube also faces suits from US group Viacom and French broadcaster TF1.