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YouTube UK to ban music videos

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YouTube logoThe Music Industry versus Scary New Technology #537: the UK arm of YouTube is banning official music videos after a spat with the Performing Rights Society (PRS), which represents musicians and copyright holders in this country.

PRS asked YouTube to increase the amount of royalties it paid to show the videos, and the video-sharing website responded that the PRS was asking for too much.

“There are two obstacles in these negotiations: prohibitive licensing fees and lack of transparency,” said YouTube’s Patrick Walker in a statement.

“We value the creativity of musicians and songwriters and have worked hard with rights-holders to generate significant online revenue for them and to respect copyright. But PRS is now asking us to pay many, many times more for our licence than before.”

PRS, unsurprisingly, is blaming YouTube.

“Google has told us they are taking this step because they wish to pay significantly less than at present to the writers of the music on which their service relies, despite the massive increase in YouTube viewing,” it said in a statement.

“PRS has not requested Google to do this and urges them to reconsider their decision as a matter of urgency.”