A U.S. District Court has issued a summary judgment in favor of YouTube in the longstanding $1 billion case brought by Viacom. The decision granted YouTube safe harbor under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). It follows similar court decisions that grant online services like YouTube protection as long as they work with copyright holders to  manage infringment.

Viacom may appeal, but given similar recent judgments in other courts, could choose not to. "This is an important victory not just for us, but also for the billions of people around the world who use the web to communicate and share experiences with each other," wrote Kent Walker, Vice President and General Counsel of YouTube parent Google on the company's blog.

Read the full Viacom vs.YouTube judgment.