YouTube Ordered To Remove Videos, Filter Future Uploads By German Court 215
suraj.sun sends this excerpt from Deutsche Welle:
"YouTube was told by a regional court in Hamburg on Friday not to display seven out of 12 contested clips without permission from the German copyright fee collecting society Gema. Gema claimed that its members were losing money every time their music was being displayed on YouTube. A proper licensing fee between the two sides expired in 2009. The Hamburg State Court ruled YouTube would in future have to install an efficient mechanism to filter out such content uploaded by users or face a fine of up to 250,000 euros ($330,000) for each case, or up to six months imprisonment. Knowing that a foolproof filter system looks next to impossible, Gema is now hoping that Google will finally agree to a new bilateral licensing treaty whereby the collecting society would not get an annual lump sum for the contested videos, but a fixed fee each time copyright-protected videos are watched."
They need to do this (Score:5, Informative)
while its still fresh. Imagine the look on GEMA's face when all videos from Germany are blocked or better yet deleted. The applause Google would get from the rest of the world would overshadow what they would lose from cutting Germany off.
If they don't want to do that then at least
Does FRAND apply? (Score:4, Informative)
I had no idea what FRAND was, but a wikipedia search indicates it covers patents. This is a copyright dispute, not a patent dispute.
END COMMUNICATION
Re:Just withdraw from Germany. (Score:5, Informative)
This won't happen.
Why not? Something similar already happened in the UK with Youtube regarding music performer royalties and other demands for lots of cash.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7933565.stm [bbc.co.uk]
Re:IP wars will lead to scorched earth tactics (Score:4, Informative)
The fines are higher than the advertising income.