14 DAY TRIAL // YouTube has been ordered by a German court to stop blaming GEMA for all the videos that are unavailable in the country. Specifically, the video streaming giant that is owned by Google has to remove the blocking messages that point the finger at GEMA since these have damaged the anti-piracy group’s reputation.
The issue dates back to a few years ago and the story goes even farther than this.
Back in 2007, YouTube and GEMA were trying to reach a licensing deal so the streaming site could use works from GEMA’s repertoire. The negotiations broke down two years later after GEMA demanded a price that Google was not willing to pay.
Later on, in 2010, YouTube was sued by the German organization, which wanted to block certain titles from local viewing. A decision was taken nearly two years later, when a court said that YouTube had to comply or be held liable for the infringing videos.
The site eventually started blocking video after video, which led to obvious (and understandable) frustration from German users. “Unfortunately, this video is not available in Germany because it may contain music for which GEMA has not granted the respective music rights,” reads the message YouTube displays.
Despite all the legal hurdles it went through, GEMA was none too happy about how the statement was worded, even though, in essence, it was its wish to have YouTube block out videos.
It wasn’t long before GEMA’s popularity started dropping among German YouTube users and the organization decided to take the case to court.
“For almost three years, YouTube has misled the public with these blocking messages and unlawfully influenced public opinion at the expense of GEMA,” said Harald Heker, GEMA CEO, in a statement.
The music group believes that YouTube is misleading users with the message it displays and that the streaming service itself is responsible for blocking the videos and claiming otherwise is false.
Yesterday, the District Court of Munich ruled that the music group was right and issued an injunction. This forces YouTube to comply and modify the notice in such a manner that it no longer denigrates GEMA.
Instead, the court said that perhaps YouTube should change the wording to say that the videos were not available due to YouTube and GEMA not reaching a licensing agreement, which would be more appropriate.
Google is currently examining the judgment and will decide on the following steps it wants to take.