HBO knocks boxing match video out of the YouTube ring

HBO has requested that YouTube pull down footage of Saturday night's championship boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya, according to a Los Angeles Times report on Tuesday (free registration required). A YouTube user had uploaded the broadcast from Las Vegas, originally shown live on HBO's pay-per-view channel, in a relatively high-quality format later that weekend. That was understandably problematic for HBO, which plans to show a rebroadcast of the match this coming Saturday.

The video was removed from the legally embattled YouTube around 4 p.m. PDT on Monday, replaced with a notice that it had been pulled "due to a copyright complaint from Home Box Office Inc."

HBO spokesman Ray Stallone confirmed to CNET News.com on Tuesday that the Google-owned YouTube was compliant with the network's request, that the video from the fight had indeed been pulled, and that HBO was actively keeping an eye out to make sure that no other YouTube users attempted to upload the footage. "We are very, very protective of our copyright. We're very aggressive in protecting it," Stallone said. "When we see a violation, we act accordingly, so we definitely addressed the pay-per-view from Saturday night, and if it happens again, we'll address it again. It's ongoing."

According to the L.A. Times story, HBO will still go ahead with its Saturday rebroadcast.

[rjpotts]

Stupid People

I don't understand how people can be so stupid. I enjoy going to YouTube every now and then to wast a little time. Idiots like this who can't be bothered to follow the rules are going to ruin it for everyone else. If you keep up this kind of B.S. they are going to shut it down.

[Crapatoa]

Thank goodness for CNET

Otherwise we'd never know that a company had a copyrighted video removed from a video sharing site! Way to go CNet! Thank's for covering new ground!