YouTube yanks music videos in licensing stalemate

by Stevie Smith - Mar 10 2009, 17:15

Music-loving YouTube users based in the United Kingdom have seen a distinct thinning of posted material today after the Google-owned site began pulling music video clips from its pages.

The abrupt removal of music video content has come about following a standoff between the hugely popular video-sharing service and the Performing Rights Society for Music (PRS) regarding how much money should be paid to individual music rights owners.

According to the PRS, discussions connected to a new revenue deal have seen YouTube looking to pay artists considerably less than it currently does in return for showing their music video content on the site.

Conversely, YouTube has said the PRS is demanding a new agreement that would leave the video-sharing service saddled with licensing payments far in excess of those it presently honours.

The apparent stalemate has now led to YouTube yanking music videos from the site, which in turn has prompted the PRS to announce it is both “shocked and disappointed” by such drastic action, which it believes only serves to punish British consumers and the songwriters the PRS protects and represents.

“Google has told us they are taking this step because they wish to pay significantly less than at present to the writers of the music on which their service relies, despite the massive increase in YouTube viewing,” outlined the PRS through its official Web site.

By way of response, YouTube said in a CNN report that the PRS wants the online service “to pay many, many times more for our license than before… The costs are simply prohibitive for us – under PRS’s proposed terms we would lose significant amounts of money with every playback.”

Insisting that it values the creativity of musicians and songwriters, respects their copyright, and continues to work hard to generate online revenue for them, YouTube also indicated negotiations had stalled with the PRS unwilling to specify which songs would be included on any agreed license.

“…that’s like asking a consumer to buy an unmarked CD without knowing what musicians are on it,” it said.

While pulling content from the UK YouTube does appear to be rather a knee-jerk reaction, content could well return before too long as both parties have indicated a willingness to push on towards a licensing deal that satisfies everyone involved.

Around the Web