German collection society GEMA wins against Youtube at court

Skybird · 04-20-12, 07:53 AM

In a dispute that is going on since over two years and that went to court last summer, last year this article was given to explain the situation and the case:
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/indus...05250002.story

Today, the Landgericht Hamburg came to a verdict, in favour of GEMA. Youtube is required to delete all titles that are property of GEMA contractors: lyricists, song writers, musicians, composer etc. The püenalty for not complying with any such GEMA demand is up to 250,000 Euros and/or up to 6 months prison.

The case is seen as having most profound relevance for the handling of copyrights on the web in general.

GEMA itself has come under fire as well for having abused its position to demands fees for content by authgors who are not even contractors of GEMA. REulings on when to pay fees and when not are issues for ongoing dispoutes in various areas of the public sphere: using music in doctor's offices, discos, warehouses, etc. The rules are not consistent.

GEMA wants a fee per stream/download of a GEMA-assiociuated title, while Yiutube has just offerd a flatrate payment. GEMA also demands access to information about inner business procedures and financial numbers of Youtube in a bet - as I see it - to gain more information than it needs to collect the fees. Youtube always has refused to grant that access, I do not know by the news so far whether the verdict today touches this issue.

I'm all for copyright protection, and youtube and other platforms like that certainly are a bay for piorated trakcs and clips. But GEMA wants more than I see morally and legally as justified, and tries to gain a controlling superior position over another company's business where GEMA simply has no controlling authority at all.

They should have agreed to a flatrate fee rule that gets reviewed and corrected once a year or so. Youtuba has such deals with 24 other countries. Just Germany wanted a payment per single stream, and from what I heared over the year a hilariously high fee it is.

There are bands and artists who refuse to cooperate with gEMA, and boycot them.Sony has called GEMA to step back, since Sony suffered a drop in sales since GEMA started to block its titles at youtube - the famous blocking screen German users got used to see at Youtube quite often since several months. Several videos linked in this forum I also was unable to watch for that reason.

The case can be brpought to the next instance by Youtube. If Yioutube looses all the way, it is unclear how they will react: whether they will pay or partially shut down in Germany.

GEMA has cooperation treaties with similiar collection organisaiton in other countries, almost all the West. Cannot say at this time whether the court ruling today affect Youtube in other nations as well for that reason. In first comments today the talk is of far-reaching consequences for the internet in general without mentioning a specific a limitation of focus on Germany. Whether that limit is implied, or the case has intenraitonal relevance indeed, I currently cannot say.

04-20-12, 07:53 AM	#1
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,602 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	German collection society GEMA wins against Youtube at court In a dispute that is going on since over two years and that went to court last summer, last year this article was given to explain the situation and the case: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/indus...05250002.story Today, the Landgericht Hamburg came to a verdict, in favour of GEMA. Youtube is required to delete all titles that are property of GEMA contractors: lyricists, song writers, musicians, composer etc. The püenalty for not complying with any such GEMA demand is up to 250,000 Euros and/or up to 6 months prison. The case is seen as having most profound relevance for the handling of copyrights on the web in general. GEMA itself has come under fire as well for having abused its position to demands fees for content by authgors who are not even contractors of GEMA. REulings on when to pay fees and when not are issues for ongoing dispoutes in various areas of the public sphere: using music in doctor's offices, discos, warehouses, etc. The rules are not consistent. GEMA wants a fee per stream/download of a GEMA-assiociuated title, while Yiutube has just offerd a flatrate payment. GEMA also demands access to information about inner business procedures and financial numbers of Youtube in a bet - as I see it - to gain more information than it needs to collect the fees. Youtube always has refused to grant that access, I do not know by the news so far whether the verdict today touches this issue. I'm all for copyright protection, and youtube and other platforms like that certainly are a bay for piorated trakcs and clips. But GEMA wants more than I see morally and legally as justified, and tries to gain a controlling superior position over another company's business where GEMA simply has no controlling authority at all. They should have agreed to a flatrate fee rule that gets reviewed and corrected once a year or so. Youtuba has such deals with 24 other countries. Just Germany wanted a payment per single stream, and from what I heared over the year a hilariously high fee it is. There are bands and artists who refuse to cooperate with gEMA, and boycot them.Sony has called GEMA to step back, since Sony suffered a drop in sales since GEMA started to block its titles at youtube - the famous blocking screen German users got used to see at Youtube quite often since several months. Several videos linked in this forum I also was unable to watch for that reason. The case can be brpought to the next instance by Youtube. If Yioutube looses all the way, it is unclear how they will react: whether they will pay or partially shut down in Germany. GEMA has cooperation treaties with similiar collection organisaiton in other countries, almost all the West. Cannot say at this time whether the court ruling today affect Youtube in other nations as well for that reason. In first comments today the talk is of far-reaching consequences for the internet in general without mentioning a specific a limitation of focus on Germany. Whether that limit is implied, or the case has intenraitonal relevance indeed, I currently cannot say. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.