Brazilian collecting society ECAD has caused a storm of controversy after asking bloggers to pay royalties for YouTube music videos they had embedded in posts. It had claimed that even when YouTube had made payments for public performances of videos on its site, “the use of these videos by a third party represents a new use, and therefore triggers a new authorisation/licence and a new payment”. Cue a major kerfuffle as bloggers protested. Google also got involved. “These sites don’t host or transmit any content when they associate a YouTube video to their site, and as such, the fact of embedding videos from YouTube can’t be treated as a `retransmission’. As these sites aren’t performing any music, ECAD can’t, within the law, collect any payment from these,” claimed the company. And sure enough, ECAD has since relented, admitting that it cannot collect copyright fees from embedded videos unless it gives “advance notice to Google/YouTube”. Which itself is a debate.
Music Ally’s next Learn Live webinar will help you understand what’s required for artists to thrive in new international markets!