In Viacom v. Google copyright litigation, Viacom took the deposition of Google co-founder Larry Page. In a sworn deposition, Page reported remembering very little about YouTube and Google video.
Viacom remarked in associated briefing: “This Court can decide whether these key executives and witnesses behaved with the level of candor and respect for the legal process that this Court has a right to expect from senior executives of important public companies.”
Page’s full deposition is available in parts 1, 2, 3.
In the list below, I summarize the substantive questions asked of Page, and quote his verbatim response to each. By my count, there were 132 distinct instances in which Page could not recall the answer to a question. (In this count and list, I excluded questions about whether Page received documents, excluded questions about why the reasons why he doesn’t remember, and excluded or grouped most repeat questions.) From my line-by-line review of Page’s deposition:
- whether YouTube used human review prior to Google’s acquisition (“Don’t recall”)
- whether YouTube filtered videos using search terms (“I don’t recall”)
- whether YouTube used fingerprint technologies (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he knew any other aspect of YouTube’s copyright practices (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he ever discussed YouTube’s copyright practices with anyone (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he discussed whether YouTube should indemnify Google for copyright liability (“I don’t recall”)
- whether YouTube did indemnify Google for copyright liability (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he ever discussed with anyone the percentage of views on YouTube that are for premium content (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he participated in due diligence of YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he spoke with anyone at YouTube about their copyright practices prior to acquisition by Google (“I don’t recall that”)
- whether he ever talked to YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley about YouTube’s business practices (“This is a very specific question, so I can’t recall”)
- whether he ever spoke with YouTube co-founder Steve Chen (“Yeah, same, same answer”)
- whether he read any due diligence about YouTube (“I don’t recall any specific due diligence”)
- whether he attended the board meeting when Google’s board approved acquiring YouTube (“I don’t recall that meeting or whether I was present or not”)
- whether he reviewed the materials presented to the board on that occasion (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he reviewed a board book for that occasion (“I don’t recall”)
- which bank advised Google in connection with acquiring YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he thought Google was overpaying for YouTube (“I don’t recall my, you know, exact train of thought around the price”)
- what others said about the price (“I don’t recall what was said around the price”)
- if anyone said the price was too high (“I actually don’t recall the discussion around price”)
- compliance practices at Google Video prior to the YouTube acquisition (“Yeah, I don’t recall”)
- whether Google Video was actively screening for copyrighted materials (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Google Video was using human review to screen for copyrighted materials (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he knew Google Video was removing certain copyrighted videos (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Google senior management decided not to deploy screening at YouTube (“I don’t recall” x2)
- whether Google senior management determined to cease practices at YouTube that were being used at Google Video to prevent copyright violations (“Yeah, I don’t recall” x3)
- whether he attended a Google Product Strategy about Google Video (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Google CEO Eric Schmidt ever raised questions about copyrighted content with Google senior leaders (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Google’s senior leaders ever discussed pirated content at YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Google’s senior leaders ever discussed illegal content at YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Google’s senior leaders ever discussed the proportion of traffic at YouTube that is pirated (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he spoke with Google CEO Eric Schmidt about what he had learned at a Google Product Strategy meeting about Google Video (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Eric Schmidt told him that the Google Video team had stated in a deck that YouTube’s business is “completely sustained by pirated content” (“I don’t recall”)
- what Eric Schmidt said he was told at a Google Product Strategy meeting about Google Video (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he ever considered copyright piracy at YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Google has sought to negotiate licensees with movie studios to put their content on YouTube and Google Video (“Yeah, I don’t recall” and “You’re asking me a very, very specific question which I then can’t recall”)
- whether he was apprised of negotiations between Viacom and Google (“I don’t recall any such detail or anything”)
- whether he ever heard of the phrase “Big 6 Media Companies” (“I don’t recall hearing such a phrase”)
- whether Google’s senior leaders held weekly meetings to discuss the status of large transactions (“I don’t recall”)
- whether there was a policy that Google’s senior leaders not be surprised regarding the status of negotiations with major content owners (“Yeah, I don’t recall of any such term”)
- whether he was advised of deal terms being negotiated between Viacom and Google (“No, I don’t recall that”)
- whether he recalls a possible half billion dollar revenue guarantee for Viacom, set out in a proposal sent to him by email (“No I don’t recall”)
- whether Google vided Viacom’s content as the most valuable of any rights-holder (“I don’t recall any such conclusion”)
- whether he was frequently kept apprised of the status of deal discussions (“I don’t recollect”)
- whether Google offered Viacom a partnership which Google valued at $592 million (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Google ever offered any other content provider even half as much (“I don’t recall” x2)
- whether additional documents remind him the he and Google co-founder Sergey Brin were continually advised of negotiations with Viacom (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Google concluded that the value of Viacom content to it was $150 million even without advertising support (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he believed that the value of Viacom content to it was $150 million even without advertising support (“I don’t recall”)
- what his position was about who would sell ads to appear in Viacom content (“I don’t recall my position”)
- whether Google pretended to be negotiating with Viacom to buy time while completing deals with other content owners (“I don’t recall, and I add further that we have very strong ethics around not doing such things” x3)
- whether he, Schmidt, and Brin ever pretended to be negotiating with Viacom to buy time while completing deals with other content owners (“Again, I don’t recall”)
- whether he ever read an email from Joan Braddi about a strategy for negotiating with Viacom (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he responded to a question about strategy for negotiating with Viacom (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he discussed a request to “keep them warm” (“I do not recall”)
- whether he discussed a strategy of buying time to complete other deals (“I don’t recall that”)
- whether he was onboard with a strategy, when an email said “Larry and Sergey are on board with this as well” (“I don’t recall the details here”)
- whether it was Google’s strategy to keep Viacom engaged until signing one of CBS or Turner (“I don’t recall that, no”)
- whether Google’s negotiating tactics with Viacom were in good faith (“I don’t recall any specifics about Viacom”)
- whether emails refresh his recollection about being kept apprised of negotiations with Viacom (“Yeah, again, I don’t recall”)
- whether Google was negotiating with other film studio and TV producers at the same time it was negotiating with Viacom (“I don’t recall any specifics there”)
- whether Google had ongoing negotiations to license content from Turner Broadcasting (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Google had ongoing negotiations to license content from Walt Disney Company (“I don’t recall”)
- whether the package Google offered to rights-holders included fingerprinting and filtering for copyright materials on YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether a document refreshes his recollection about YouTube’s offering of fingerprinting and metadata searches (“So I know very little about this document, whether it was signed or not, or any of those things, so it’s hard to answer that question”)
- whether his approval was required for Turner Broadcasting to receive fingerprinting and other filtering techniques in 2006 (“I have no idea”)
- whether he was apprised of negotiations between Google and Walt Disney (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he knew that in 2006, Google was offering to pay a fingerprinting vendor to check for Walt Disney’s content on YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether his approval would be required for Google to pay a fingerprinting vendor to check for Walt Disney’s content on YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he saw a termsheet for a proposed transaction between MTV and Google (“No, I don’t recall that”)
- whether he was advised in December 2006 that as part of a license agreement, Google was offering to provide audio fingerprinting to Viacom for content on YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether in 2006 it was the express policy of Google’s senior management not to offer fingerprinting or filtering to content owners unless they entered into a revenue-sharing agreement with Google (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he recalls discussing with senior leaders that Google would not offer fingerprinting to any other content owner without a license (“I don’t recall that”)
- whether Google vice president David Eun was accurately portraying Google policies as authorized by senior management when he said fingerprinting tools would only be provided as part of a revenue deal (“I have no recollection of that”)
- whether he was advised in Fbruary 2007 that that was Google’s policy (“Yeah, I don’t – I don’t recall that”)
- whether the senior leadership of Google considered cooperating with Viacom or NBC to use fingerprinting to keep their content off of YouTube (“I don’t recall” x2)
- whether he would expect senior leaders of Google to discuss approaches to negotiations with two of the largest entertainment companies in the world (“I don’t recall any such discussion”)
- whether he called discussing certain points on a memo addressed to him (“I don’t recall discussing page 25”)
- whether he recalled discussing with other senior leaders of Google whether the company should threaten to change its copyright policy to get a standard deal with content-owners (“Again, I don’t recall”)
- whether he recalled being advised that entire movies were being uploaded to YouTube (“No, I don’t recall”)
- whether he recalled Spider Man III being uploaded to YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he recalled Cars being uploaded to YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he recalled Meet the Robinsons being uploaded to YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he recalled Pans Labyrinth being uploaded to YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he recalls being advise of any movie uploaded in its entirety to YouTube in 2007 (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Google’s senior leaders knew that Google was in discussion with the MPAA regarding copyright (“I don’t recollect that”)
- whether the senior leaders of Google authorized staff to tell the MPAA that Google would refuse to filter or use fingerprinting in the absence of a deal with members of the MPAA (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he recalls learning in February 2007 about Viacom requesting a large takedown of its content from YouTube (“I don’t recall” and “I already said that I don’t recall”)
- whether a document refreshes his recollection that Viacom had requested a large takedown of its content from YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether YouTube makes a copy of an uploaded file onto a YouTube server (“I’m not familiar with exactly what YouTube does with uploads”)
- whether YouTube creates a searchable index of its site (“I have no specific knowledge of that”)
- whether he told investors that YouTube has distribution contracts for other platforms (“I don’t recall”)
- whether YouTube has distribution contracts or Motorola devices (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Google senior leaders discussed, in his presence, YouTube’s distribution contracts with Apple (“I don’t recall”)
- whether Google senior leaders discussed, in his presence, YouTube’s distribution contracts with Sony (“I have no in-depth knowledge of these things”)
- whether Google senior leaders had discussions regarding contracts with Apple, Sony, Panasonic, Cingular, Verizon, or Vodaphone (“I don’t recall any specific discussions, no”)
- whether he recalls what Credit Suisse told the Google Board as to YouTube’s monetization model (“Yeah, I don’t recall”)
- whether anyone quantified for Google leaders the benefit of additional monetizable traffic to YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether YouTube gets searching preference on Google (“I’m not aware of the details”)
- whether he favored Google’s acquisition of YouTube (“I don’t remember my exact thinking around the time. I don’t think I was tremendously upset by it”)
- whether he was in favor of the transaction or against it (“I don’t remember being upset about it, so my guess is I was more positive than negative”)
- whether his view of the transaction changed over time (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he discussed his view of the transaction with Google co-founder Sergey Brin (“I don’t recall such a situation, but I’d be surprised if I didn’t”)
- whether he has a videotape or audiotape of a conversation with Brin about whether to acquire YouTube (“not that I can recall”)
- whether he discussed the transaction with Google CEO Eric Schmidt (“Like I said, I don’t recall any specific discussions around it. Again, I’d be surprised if I didn’t.”)
- whether he had any general discussions with Schmidt about acquiring YouTube (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he was generally in favor of acquiring YouTube (“I said I don’t remember being against it”)
- whether he was familiar with allegations of copyright infringement at YouTube, other than information obtained via counsel (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he had any conversation with Schmidt, either before or after acquiring YouTube, in which they discussed copyright infringement (“I don’t recall” x2)
- whether he had any conversation with Brin, either before or after acquiring YouTube, in which they discussed copyright infringement (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he ever directed anyone to determine whether YouTube was violating copyrights (“Again, I’m not an expert on the operation of YouTube, but I don’t recall any such thing” x3)
- whether he ever remarked “There seemed to be a lot of allegations that YouTube may be infringing copyright. I’d like you to find out about it and report to me”, or words to that effect (“I don’t recall doing that, no”)
- when he first logged in to YouTube (“I don’t know. I assume some time around the acquisition, but I don’t recall that”)
- approximately when he first logged in to YouTube (“I mean, no, I can’t record recall that”)
- whether he recalls what caused him to first go to the YouTube web site (“No”)
- whether he recalls discussing with anyone what he saw on the YouTube web site when he first went there (“No”)
- whether he discussed with Brin what he saw on the YouTube web site (“I can’t recall any specific instance, no”)
- whether he ever saw anything on the YouTube site which he thought was improper (“I can’t recall that, no”)
- when he last visited the YouTube site (“Probably pretty recently, but I can’t remember exactly”)
- whether his visits to YouTube ever caused him to think about whether there were copyright infringements on that site (“I don’t recall that, no”)
- whether he recalls being involved in a discussion about the value of Premier League broadcasts (“No”)
- whether he recalls being involved in a written discussion about the value of Premier League broadcasts (“Like I said, I don’t recall”)
- whether he recalls communications with representatives of English Premier Football (Soccer) (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he recalls communications about whether English Premier Football (Soccer) should be paid (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he recalls communications about the desirability of licensing content from English Premier Football (“I don’t recall and, you know, there’s a lot of these kinds of things”)
- whether he has any memory of discussion with English Premier Football at all (“No”)
- whether he learned in advance that a licensing deal with Walt Disney Company was going to be entered into (“Yeah, I don’t recall specifics there”)
- whether he discussed with Schmidt the prospect of a licensing deal with Walt Disney Company (“I don’t recall”)
- whether he recalls participating in any discussions about the financial value to Google of acquiring YouTube (“I don’t recall much of any real financial analysis. In general, for startups, it’s a pretty difficult thing.”)
- whether he recalls participating in conversations with Schmidt or Brin about the economic value to Google of acquiring YouTube (“Again, I don’t recall the specifics around those discussions”)
- whether he recalls discussions with Schmidt or Brin about the competitive advantage to Google in acquiring YouTube (“I mean, I already I said I can’t remember specifics. I can’t remember anything about the competitive issues.”)
- whether he recalls discussions with Schmidt or Brin about the disadvantages of Google Video compared to YouTube (“I can’t remember any specifics about discussions with them and about Google Video, no.” x2)