Warner and YouTube extend music deal despite piracy concerns

Record company Warner and YouTube have reached an agreement on the payment of royalties on music streams. This will allow the video site to continue streaming music from artists affiliated with Warner, although the record company still complains about piracy.

That reports Variety, based on an internal document prepared by Warner and intended to be circulated among employees. The record company reports that it has made a deal with YouTube about licensing costs for music under difficult circumstances. In a response to Recode, YouTube itself says that it is happy with the agreement it has concluded with Warner.

In the document, Warner further states that it remains concerned about piracy. According to the record company, the ‘Safe Harbor’ laws give YouTube a strong negotiating position, because music without a deal could also be found on the video site. As a result, there is actually no question of a fair negotiation, according to Warner. The record company also notes that the deal signed with YouTube is shorter than usual. This gives the company more ‘options’, which probably refers to the termination of the agreement.

Major record companies have been complaining for some time that YouTube is doing too little to combat piracy on the video site. Despite this, deals have been struck with most major labels. Whether other major parties, such as Sony and Universal, will also extend their agreements with YouTube remains to be seen from negotiations.