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Court: YouTube liable for copyright breaches

A German court ruled on Friday that Google's video sharing service YouTube is responsible when users post copyrighted music clips without permission. The decision could cost YouTube millions in royalties.

Published: 20 April 2012 15:51 CEST
Court: YouTube liable for copyright breaches
Photo: DPA

The German royalty collections body GEMA sued YouTube over 12 specific music videos to which it holds the rights.

The Hamburg court ruled that YouTube was responsible for making sure that any uploaded videos did not breach copyright and ordered it take down seven of the 12 clips concerned.

In the five other cases, the lawsuit was formally withdrawn because there was no evidence that the videos had been uploaded to the site.

Apart from ruling that YouTube was responsible for the actions of its users, the court also said that individuals who uploaded the videos again could face a fine of up to €250,000, or a custodial sentence of up to six months for violating court orders.

YouTube must install filters to prevent users from uploading copyrighted music videos without permission, it said.

YouTube said it took no responsibility for what users did but said it always responded when told of copyright violations.

GEMA represents about 60,000 German song writers and musicians.

The ruling represents the culmination of a legal battle between GEMA and YouTube that has dragged on since 2009, when the last contract between them expired. After no follow-up agreement was reached, GEMA sued YouTube in 2010.

AFP/The Local/bk

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BUSINESS

French court hands Amazon €90,000-per-day fine over contracts

French authorities on Wednesday slapped a €90,000-per-day fine on e-commerce giant Amazon until it removes abusive clauses in its contracts with businesses using its platform to sell their goods.

Published: 14 April 2022 09:06 CEST
French court hands Amazon €90,000-per-day fine over contracts

The anti-fraud Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes (DGCCRF) service said the online sales giant’s contracts with third-party sellers who use its Amazon.fr website contain “unbalanced” clauses.

“The company Amazon Services Europe did not comply completely with an injunction it was served and it is now subject to a fine of €90,000 per day of delay” in applying the changes, the DGCCRF said in a statement.

It also urged the platform to conform with European rules on equity and transparency for firms using online platforms.

Amazon said the order would harm consumers.

“The changes imposed by the DGCCRF will stop us from effectively protecting consumers and permit bad actors to set excessive prices or spam our clients with commercial offers,” the e-commerce giant said in a statement.

“We will comply with the DGCCRF’s decision but we absolutely do not understand it and we are challenging it in court,” responded the e-commerce giant in a statement.

Amazon said the clauses that the DGCCRF has ordered removed had, for example “prevented the appearance of exorbitant prices for mask and hydroalcoholic gel during the pandemic”.

In 2019, Amazon was fined €4 million for “manifestly unbalanced” contract clauses with third-party sellers on its site in a case brought by the DGCCRF.

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