YouTube user logs to be released to Viacom

Google has been ordered to release information on all users of YouTube, which it owns, to Viacom, which is taking legal action against the search giant.

Viacom's request for all YouTube's records of log-in names and email and IP addresses was granted by a US district court in a preliminary hearing yesterday.

"We are disappointed the court granted Viacom's overreaching demand for viewing history," Google said in a statement. "We will ask Viacom to respect users' privacy and allow us to anonymise the logs before producing them under the court's order."

Responding to concerns about users' privacy, Viacom said: "Any information that we or our outside advisers obtain will be used exclusively for the purpose of proving our case against YouTube and Google. It will be handled subject to a court protective order and in a highly confidential manner."

The company, which owns MTV, Comedy Central and numerous other TV interests, filed a case worth more than $1bn last year claiming YouTube is in breach of copyright law. Viacom says it has identified more than 150,000 unauthorised clips of its shows on the website and that illegal material is "the cornerstone of defendants' business plan".

Google insists the service is within the law because illegal clips are removed when they are pointed out by copyright owners.