Facing a $1 billion lawsuit from Viacom over copyrighted material distributed on YouTube, Google has claimed it is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. By hosting content provided by others, the law's Safe Harbor provision protects it from liability so long as they act fast to remove copyrighted content once the owner notifies them, the search giant stated. Viacom refutes that defense.

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) filed documents with the U.S. District Court Monday, addressing the US$1 billion lawsuit it faces from Viacom (NYSE: VIAb) . In the response, filed in the Southern District of New York, Google contends that it has not violated the rights of the media conglomerate based on a provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), enacted in 1998. Google also alleges that Viacom's lawsuit threatens to derail the phenomenon of user-generated content sites.

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