According to the Google-owned video-sharing site, the U.S. National Music Publishers Association (NMPA), its subsidiary Harry Fox Agency (HFA) and music publishers affiliated with HFA will be able to license the musical compositions they represent for use by the YouTube community and receive royalties from YouTube for musical works in videos posted on the site.“Today’s deal offers more choice for rights holders in how they manage use of their songs,” YouTube said in a blog posting on its site yesterday. “While this deal is only with publishers, it will also benefit recording artists and record labels.”
However, details of the agreement were not disclosed.
In 2007, the music publishers joined the class action suit filed against Google by the U.S. Football Association Premier League among others, accusing YouTube of encouraging users to upload pirated video clips of music videos, films and TV shows.
"With today's deal and advances in Content ID technology, we're continuing our recognition of songwriters for their artistic contribution by supporting them with an additional revenue stream to help their future creative pursuits," said YouTube in its official blog.
Content ID, introduced in last December, is a set of audio and video matching tools that help identify whether the compositions appear in an original sound recording or in a cover version use information provided to YouTube by the publishers.
Before YouTube implemented a filtering system and other content protections, users commonly uploaded unauthorized clips of TV shows and movies.
The music class suit was reviewed by the court along with the suit filed by Viacom, parent company of Paramount Pictures and MTV. In March 2007, the company also accused Google of encouraging its users to commit copyright infringement.
Last June, a U.S. court granted summary judgment for Google, ruling that "YouTube is protected by the safe harbor of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) against claims of copyright infringement."
The ruling means online services like YouTube are protected when they work cooperatively with copyright holders to help them manage their rights online.
Music publishers and artists may finally be seeing some money from the plays their songs get on YouTube.
After a four-year legal battle, the National Music Publishers’ Association reached a settlement in its class action suit against YouTube for copyright infringement.The resolution means music publishers can receive royalties from YouTube for music appearing in videos by entering a license agreement.
“It’s been a hard road for many songwriters and publishers to get to this place, but we’re finally here where we’ve agreed upon a business model where we can share in the revenue generated from a site that quite honestly, is based on the backs of songwriters and musicians,” -NMPA President and Chief Executive David Israelite.The license would cover synchronization rights, meaning when a musical work is used with visual elements. It would also bring in a portion of the revenue earned through advertising linked with YouTube videos.
The Harry Fox Agency is set to handle these license agreements. Further details on the royalty payments have not been disclosed, but more information regarding licensing will be posted on the HFA and NMPA websites in the weeks to come, according to a statement.
The suit was filed in 2007 on behalf of 3,000 independent music publishers. Music publishers owned by the EMI Music Group, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment fall under their own already-existing licensing agreements with YouTube.
The new agreement allows for legal monetization and shared revenue with those who created the music.
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