The Premier League owns the rights to British soccer games, while music publisher Bourne owns the rights to such songs as "Let's Fall in Love," the San Francisco Chronicle reports. As with its defense against Viacom's similar $1 billion lawsuit, Google is claiming it is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The media companies, however, are frustrated that they are forced to send notice after notice because the clips often reappear after they've been removed. They are seeking to challenge how that law is applied.

"Like most pieces of legislation, there are holes that need to be filled down the line, and we're seeing one of those holes," said Paul Ragusa, a partner at the law firm Baker Bots in New York.

It isn't clear how many copyright holders will join the lawsuit or just how much money they will demand.

"I think it was inevitable," said Brian Banner, counsel at Rothwell Figg Ernst & Manbeck. "A lot of people were looking for ways to stop YouTube from what it is doing, but just couldn't afford to do it yet." Now, with the class-action lawsuit, they can, Banner added.