Paris – After three years of negotiations, Google’s (NASD: GOOG) YouTube
has reached a licensing agreement with French copyright society SACEM.
"It
is important and symbolic that YouTube, the largest video-sharing site, pay
French creators when their content is discovered and viewed on the site,"
said SACEM chief executive Bernard Miyet.
"I am satisfied that the
open-mindedness of each and a common will to end in a well-balanced result
allowed us to surmount the difficulties inherent to the negotiation of an
agreement concerning such an innovative but complex model."
The deal is
retroactive to 2007 and lasts through 2012, and licenses YouTube to display
Sacem-represented content in France, Luxembourg and Andorra.
YouTube already
had deals in place for France with the four major record labels and many local
independents.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/23ofqed
http://tinyurl.com/2alv4r2
(Billboard)
