No More YouTube-blocking in Germany

The German collection society GEMA and video service YouTube have finally agreed on a solution to their dispute, ending a 7 year long blocking of several YouTube videos in Germany.

Both to artists venturing abroad and music fans living or traveling in Germany, the GEMA-blocked YouTube videos have been a thorn in the side for many years. Due to a disagreement between YouTube and GEMA, several YouTube videos containing music – many of them videos by German, international and global artists – have been blocked to users, who, instead of music, received the notorious sad-smiley GEMA message when tuning in to their favorite music video. This came to an end on November 1st, when GEMA and YouTube announced they’ve come to a solution, making thousands of videos instantly available on the platform, to the delight of many fans, artists and industry players.

As reported by Spiegel Online (among others), the long-lasting dispute was about who should be responsible for paying artists money when their content is watched, and how much. YouTube wanted to give the responsibility to the uploaders, whereas GEMA saw it as YouTube’s responsibility. According to Spiegel Online, both parties remain true to their point of view, even though YouTube is now paying GEMA for the music used in the content on the platform. The agreement was made outside of court, so the exact details of the deal are not public. It remains to be seen what kind and size of payments will be made, but this is nevertheless great news to both artists and fans in Germany!