Music publishers agree to settle YouTube copyright lawsuit
updated 05:35 pm EDT, Wed August 17, 2011
Terms of deal remain unknown
Various music publishers and the National Music Publishers Association have agreed to settle their lawsuit against Google's video sharing site, YouTube. The class-action lawsuit originally claimed YouTube was actively encouraging copyright violations, as users uploaded content that included music videos, album tracks, movies and television programs.
The NMPA accepted a licensing agreement that will allow YouTube to post certain copyrighted music in uploaded videos, as long as individual publishers receive royalties. The Harry Fox Agency, which specializes in royalty agreements and was included as a plaintiff in the litigation, has been chosen to handle the licensing for all publishers.
"The license opportunity will enable music publishers to grant the rights necessary for the synchronization of their musical works with videos posted by YouTube users and to receive royalties from YouTube for user-generated videos for which YouTube receives advertising revenue worldwide," the NMPA said in a statement.
HFA and the NMPA have yet to disclose any specific terms of the licensing deal, leaving the royalty amounts unclear. [via CNET]
