Google and Viacom Settle YouTube Lawsuit

Google and Viacom have announced the end of a seven-year copyright violation lawsuit centered around YouTube with an agreement to settle out of court.

Viacom, which operates a variety of media properties including Comedy Central, MTV and Paramount Pictures, in March 2007 that sought $1 billion in damages from Google. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The agreement signals the end to a long and often publicly contentious battle. Viacom had alleged that YouTube was guilty of copyright infringement for allowing users to upload clips of its content and deliberately allowing it to remain on the site.