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YouTube Ordered To Remove "Illegal" Copyright Blocking Notices

Posted by Unknown on from the some-organizations-deserve-scorn dept.

An anonymous reader writes in with new developments in a two-year-old spat between YouTube and GEMA (a German music royalty collection foundation). After the courts ordered YouTube to implement tools to block videos that contained music GEMA licenses, it seems that telling users why content was blocked isn't making GEMA happy. From the article: "GEMA applied for an injunction to force YouTube to change the messages, claiming that they misrepresent the situation and damage GEMA’s reputation. YouTube alone is responsible for blocking the videos, claiming otherwise is simply false, GEMA argued. ... Yesterday the District Court of Munich agreed with the music group and issued an injunction to force YouTube to comply, stating that the notices 'denigrate' GEMA with a 'totally distorted representation of the legal dispute between the parties.' Changing the message to state that videos are not available due to a lack of a licensing agreement between YouTube and GEMA would be more appropriate, the Court said." The messages currently reads, "Unfortunately, this video is not available in Germany because it may contain music for which GEMA has not granted the respective music rights." Seems pretty neutral. Non-compliance with the order could result in fines of €250,000 per infraction.

4 of 427 comments (clear)

  1. Re:May be it should say by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 3, Funny

    Even better would be, GEMA has sued youtube in a German court. That court has ordered us to say, "videos are not available due to a lack of a licensing agreement between YouTube and GEMA"

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  2. Re:May be it should say by squiggleslash · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or maybe, for maximum bad taste comedic effect, "We have been ordered by a German court to say that "videos are not available due to a lack of a licensing agreement between YouTube and GEMA", and as a mark of our respect to the German legal system, we are only following orders when we show this message to you."

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    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  3. Re:Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    > Any person using FTFY or editing my postings gets a US$50.00 gift.

    FTFY

    Cool. When do I get my money!

  4. Re:Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Maybe you two should start the school from the 1st grade.