In a recent step in its $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube, Viacom subpoenaed documentation from venture capitalists Sequoia Capital, Artis Capital Management and TriplePoint Capital. The three vc firms invested in YouTube in its start-up days and subsequently sold the company to Google.
In its lawsuit, Viacom claims that YouTube’s business model entails generating traffic and advertising revenue through copyrighted programming posted by YouTube visitors. That copyrighted programming posted on YouTube includes many Viacom television shows such as The Colbert Report and South Park Viacom wants to review the venture capital documents to learn what motivated the vc firms to invest in YouTube and to review exactly how the fledgling YouTube described its business model to potential investors.