German copyright organisation sues YouTube over blocked content notices

German copyright organisation GEMA has taken YouTube to court, claiming its blocked content notices unfairly target them as villains.

GEMA represents 68,000 German copyright holders, as well as numerous others from around the world. In 2009, discussions between the two parties stalled when they could not agree on a copyright rate for streaming. As a result, GEMA chose not to sign a licensing agreement with YouTube, leaving numerous videos unavailable on the platform in Germany.

The following year GEMA further claimed that YouTube should be responsible for blocking all GEMA-controlled content illegally uploaded by users. The Court of Hamburg sided with GEMA, ruling in 2012 that YouTube had to block such videos.

YouTube were compliant, however called GEMA out in these blocked content notices as the ones behind the video removal, while also removing unrelated content and issuing the same blanket takedown notice – a move that led to GEMA again taking YouTube to court, claiming these notices are damaging their reputation.

As GEMA control a number of copyrights in the country, these notices are rather frequent.

The District Court of Munich has sided with GEMA, saying YouTube’s notices illegal paint the copyright organisation as a villain, and it should be made clear this is a two-sided dispute, not a draconian measure from GEMA. This verdict is not finalised, but it could prove costly for YouTube, with the maximum penalty for each video still displaying this notice set at €250,000.

GEMA CEO Dr. Harald Heker is pleased with the ruling: “The decision sends an important and positive signal: It’s not GEMA preventing the enjoyment of music on the Internet.  It seeks merely to license YouTube, like all other music portals.  Our concern is that the artists participate in the economic exploitation of their works and can earn a livelihood in the future.”