YouTube’s Seven-Year Music Battle Ends in Germany
- Video service to pay licensing fees for clips shown in Germany
- Deal covers about 70,000 artists, thousands of music videos
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Google’s YouTube struck a deal with German royalty-collection group Gema to pay licensing fees and unblock thousands of music videos in Europe’s biggest economy after seven years of legal battles.
The agreement signed Tuesday means that about 70,000 musicians and songwriters represented by Gema will get paid if their content is watched on YouTube, Gema said in a statement. The deal may enable YouTube to introduce its Red music and video subscription service in Germany, which the agreement also covers, Gema said.