Germany copyright holder wins suit against YouTube
April 23, 2012
Internet video giant YouTube has recently been engaged in a court battle with German royalty collection group Gema. The video hosting site was being prosecuted for allowing its users to upload and share copyrighted material. On Friday, the court ruled against YouTube and is forcing the company to remove all videos containing copyrighted clips, according to Reuters. The courts ruled that YouTube would not be required to remove every video that infringes copyrights, but clips must be removed upon the rights holders' requests.
"Today's ruling confirms that YouTube as a hosting platform cannot be obliged to control the content of all videos uploaded to the site," a YouTube spokesperson told BBC. "We remain committed to finding a solution to the music licensing issue in Germany that will benefit artists, composers, authors, publishers and record labels as well as the wider YouTube community."
This is not the first time Gema has put a stop to file-sharing sites in Germany. Grooveshark, a music streaming website, withdrew its presence in the country following Gema's installation of licensing rates that made the business unprofitable, BBC reports.
Those who want to find out more about the great copyright debate can find out by calling Germany with international phone cards.
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