The online video sharing behemoth YouTube has announced it will be blocking most music videos in the UK after negotiations with the royalty group, Performing Rights Society for Music, collapsed.
The site said the PRSM was asking for more money in licensing fees than was reasonable and therefore the talks collapsed. The previous licensing contract with the group expired earlier this month.
“We were shocked and disappointed to receive a call late this afternoon informing us of Google’s drastic action which we believe only punishes British consumers and the songwriters whose interests we protect and represent,” PRS CEO Steve Porter said.
“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.”
Google responded: “We’re still working with PRS for Music in an effort to reach mutually acceptable terms for a new license, but until we do so we will be blocking premium music videos in the UK that have been supplied or claimed by record labels. This was a painful decision, and we know the significant disappointment it will cause within the UK.”
Result for: pta
According to Warner Music Group, negotiations between them and video sharing giant YouTube have broken down, and the group has removed all their music videos from the site.
Currently each of the Big 4 labels are renegotiating their licensing deals with YouTube.
“We are working actively to find a resolution with YouTube that would enable the return of our artists’ content to the site,” Warner noted. “Until then, we simply cannot accept terms that fail to appropriately and fairly compensate recording artists, songwriters, labels and publishers for the value they provide.”
Earlier this week, Universal Music noted that YouTube had become a strong revenue stream for the studio, and that it “has generated ‘tens of millions’ of dollars for the recording company this year, up 80 percent from last year.” Universal hopes to add more content to YouTube soon, likely full length feature films.
“If we can’t reach acceptable business terms, we must part ways with successful partners,” Google (owner of YouTube) added. “For example, you may notice videos that contain music owned by Warner Music Group being blocked from the site.”
Result for: pta
Pakistani officials have announced that the government has blocked all access to the popular video-sharing site YouTube because there have been a few anti-Islamic videos posted on the site.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) notified all 70 Pakistani ISPs that access to the site is to be blocked indefinitely.
The PTA revealed that the ban was mainly due to a “trailer for an upcoming film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, who has said he plans to release an anti-Quran movie portraying the religion as fascist and prone to inciting violence against women and homosexuals.” Governement officials would not elaborate further.
The group also urged YouTube fans to write to the site and request the removal of all “objectionable movies” saying that the government would unblock the site once the movies were taken down.
The banning follows recent decisions by Turkey and Morocco to block access to the video sharing site, both for similar reasons as Pakistan.
