BBC: YouTube could face a huge bill for royalties after it lost a court battle in Germany over music videos.
A court in Hamburg ruled that YouTube is responsible for the content that users post to the video sharing site.
It wants the video site to install filters that spot when users try to post music clips whose rights are held by royalty collection group, Gema.
The German industry group said in court that YouTube had not done enough to stop copyrighted clips being posted.
Rights battle
YouTube said it took no responsibility for what users did, but responded when told of copyright violations.
"Today's ruling confirms that YouTube as a hosting platform cannot be obliged to control the content of all videos uploaded to the site," said a spokesperson for the video site.
"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," they added.
Gema's court case was based on 12 separate music clips posted to the website. The ruling concerns seven of the 12 clips.
If YouTube is forced to pay royalties for all the clips used on the site it will face a huge bill.
Gema represents about 60,000 German song writers and musicians. » | Friday, April 20, 2012
