EMI signs content deal with YouTube

The Electric and Musical Industries Ltd (EMI Group), the world’s third-largest music firm has signed an agreement with Google Inc.'s YouTube that gives video-sharing site’s users access to EMI audio and video libraries.

In a joint statement on Thursday Internet search site giant Google Inc. and EMI Group PLC's EMI Music record label said that they've agreed to let users of Google-owned video-sharing site access videos and music by EMI artists, including David Bowie, Coldplay, The Decemberists, Fat Boy Slim, Gorillaz and Lily Allen.

Under terms of the deal, the Kensington, London-based music company not only agreed to offer YouTube users "unprecedented" access to authorized sound and visual recordings from its catalog, but will also allow them to incorporate limited elements of the videos in their own content.

After signing the agreement with Google, EMI has become the fourth major record company after Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony BMG Entertainment that entered into a content deal with YouTube.

"With this deal, all four of the world's major music companies are now official YouTube partners," Chad Hurley, chief executive and co-founder of San Bruno-based YouTube, said in a statement.

The two companies has not yet disclosed the financial details of the deal, but EMI chief executive Eric Nicoli said in a statement that "EMI Music and its artists will be fairly compensated for their work."

As part of the pact, EMI Music will work with YouTube and parent company Google to develop revenue-generating business models that will enable EMI to track, attach monetary value and control content.

Yesterday’s Youtube-EMI deal comes after the copyright lawsuits filed by media companies that accused the former company of allowing its users to pirate their programmes on the popular video-sharing site.

In March, the New York-based entertainment giant Viacom Media filed a suit with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging Google's San Bruno-based video-sharing site YouTube knowingly infringed Viacom copyrights "on a huge scale."

In its lawsuit, the American media conglomerate Viacom claimed unauthorized display of over 160,000 video clips picked collectively from MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon by YouTube.

Besides claiming "massive intentional copyright infringement" of its properties Viacom has demanded for an injunction preventing Google and YouTube from further copyright infringement. Viacom also seeks more than US $1 billion in damages and an injunction against further violations against YouTube and its parent company Google Inc.

However, in an 11-page response to Viacom's copyright infringement lawsuit, the online search leader has denied all claims, and late in April filed a confrontational official response in New York’s federal district court, contending that YouTube’s activities are legal.

Last month, the Football Association Premier League Ltd. better known as the English Premier League, and music publisher Bourne Co. launched a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, accusing the YouTube of "knowingly” misappropriating its intellectual property by encouraging footage to be viewed on its site.

Google shares jumped $7.70, or 1.5%, to close at $506.26 in midday trading.

Source :http://www.themoneytimes.com