[JURIST] The Internet video site YouTube [corporate website] was sued in federal district court Tuesday for alleged copyright infringement related to video of the beating of trucker Reginald Denny [Wikipedia backgrounder] during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The suit was filed by the Los Angeles News Service, a company founded by helicopter pilot Bob Tur and his wife, who allege that YouTube infringed the video's copyright by allowing the footage to be posted on their site for public viewing. In a statement, YouTube claimed that it is protected from liability by the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) [summary; PDF text], which protect content providers who simply allow copyright material to be transmitted through their site. The video has already been removed from YouTube.

Tur previously sued Reuters over the video, but a $60,000 award was overturned [Los Angeles Business Journal report] by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [opinion, PDF text]. CNET News has more.