YouTube may have to pay billions to music stars after EU copyright vote
The legislation won’t become official until it’s voted on by the entire European Parliament
Music stars from Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran to Beyoncé and Jay-Z could be in line for big paydays after YouTube lost a crucial vote in Brussels over new copyright laws that will force it to pay billions of dollars in fees for users watching music videos.
For years the music industry has argued that YouTube exploits the lack of legal protection around videos being viewed on its service to pay minimal amounts to artists and labels when they are viewed.
The music industry has lobbied that this “value gap” between the true worth of the music videos and what YouTube decides to pay needs to be addressed with legislation.
On Wednesday, a crucial vote by the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee went the way of the music industry with an agreement to adopt copyright laws that will force platforms such as YouTube to seek licences for music videos.
“The importance of today’s vote cannot be overstated; this proposal is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a new balance in the online world,” said Helen Smith, the executive chair of the European music body Impala, which represents labels behind acts including Adele, Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand.