German judge: YouTube not responsible for user piracy

The highest regional court in Munich has ruled that YouTube is not responsible for users who infringe copyrights. According to the judges, full responsibility lies with the users.

With this judgment, the court ruled in favor of YouTube in the case brought against the video site by German music rights manager GEMA. The judges’ decision is in line with the principle that services that provide user-generated content are not liable for the actions of the users.

GEMA claims to represent more than 70,000 artists in Germany alone. The group demanded that Google pay 0.375 euros per view for a selected group of videos. GEMA wants this because it believes that YouTube does benefit from the advertisements that are shown with the videos. This would allow YouTube to take advantage of its users’ piracy. Thomas Theune, director of broadcasting and online for GEMA, said: “In our view, YouTube exploits works that are available through their service. This type of exploitation is subject to licensing fees.”

According to a lawyer for GEMA, Tobias Hollzmüller, the decision is disappointing. The judges have ruled in favor of Google’s subsidiary, but according to the lawyer this is not fair because of the financial aspects. He indicates that he is studying the reasoning of the judges and that he will probably lodge an appeal afterwards. In 2015, a lower court ruled that YouTube was not responsible for the actions of its users.