The blocking of YouTube videos in Germany was part of a former dispute between the video sharing platform YouTube and the Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte (GEMA, or "Society for Musical Performance and Mechanical Reproduction Rights" in English), a performance rights organization in Germany.
According to a German court in Hamburg, Google's subsidiary YouTube could be held liable for damages when it hosts copyrighted videos without the copyright holder's permission.[1] As a result, music videos for major label artists on YouTube, as well as many videos containing background music, have been geoblocked in Germany since the end of March 2009 after the previous agreement had expired and negotiations for a new license agreement were stopped. On 30 June 2015, Google won a partial victory against GEMA in a state court in Munich, which ruled that they could not be held liable for such damages.[2]
In July 2015, the higher regional court of Hamburg also rejected GEMA's claim for €1.6 million in damages.[3]
In 2016, YouTube and GEMA, who represents 70,000 composers and publishers, reached a settlement agreement. The settlement sum is unknown.
- ^ Frederic Lardinois (2010-09-03). "YouTube Loses in German Court: Held Liable for Copyrighted Videos". Readwriteweb.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-28. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
- ^ "Gema-Klage: YouTube erzielt Etappensieg gegen die Gema". Die Zeit. 30 June 2015. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
- ^ "OLG Hamburg: Kein Schadensersatz gegen Youtube". Archived from the original on 2017-09-04. Retrieved 2017-09-04.