YouTube wins copyright challenge in top EU court

LUXEMBOURG • YouTube yesterday won its latest copyright infringement challenge after Europe's top court said that online platforms are not liable for users uploading unauthorised works unless the platforms failed to take quick action to remove or block access to the content.

The case marks the latest development in a long-running battle between Europe's US$1 trillion (S$1.3 trillion) creative industry and online platforms, with the former seeking redress for unauthorised works that are uploaded.

It is also part of the wider debate on how much online platforms and social media should do to police the posting of unauthorised, illegal or hateful content, an issue that European Union regulators are targeting with tough new rules that could come into force next year.

"As currently stands, operators of online platforms do not, in principle, themselves make a communication to the public of copyright-protected content illegally posted online by users of those platforms," said the EU Court of Justice. "But those operators do make such a communication in breach of copyright where they contribute, beyond merely making those platforms available, to giving access to such content to the public."

The EU court said that platforms could also be liable if they do not put in place the appropriate technological tools to tackle copyright breaches by their users or where they provide tools on their platforms for illegal sharing of content.

A YouTube spokesman said: "YouTube is a leader in copyright and supports rights holders being paid their fair share.

"That's why we've invested in state of the art copyright tools which have created an entirely new revenue stream for the industry. In the past 12 months alone we have paid US$4 billion to the music industry, over 30 per cent of which comes from monetised user generated content."

The case underlines a long-running debate on the responsibilities of online platforms, said Mr Nils Rauer, a partner at law firm Pinsent Masons.

"The core question is and remains whether the platform is in a rather passive role (no liability) or in an active role (liability). There is a fine line between those two roles," he said. "With (the) ruling, the domestic courts will be able to build on more guidance from Luxembourg on where to draw the line between the good (platforms) and the bad ones."

Music producer Frank Peterson had sued YouTube and Google in Germany over the uploading to YouTube by users in 2008 of several phonograms to which he holds the rights. In a second case, publishing group Elsevier took legal action against file-hosting service Cyando in Germany after its users uploaded several Elsevier works on its platform Uploaded in 2013 without its approval.

A German court then sought advice from the EU Court of Justice, which ruled on both cases.

Existing EU rules exempt YouTube and its peers from such liability regarding copyright when they are told of violations and remove them. The EU last year overhauled its copyright rules for the first time in two decades to help its creative industries. This requires YouTube, Instagram and other sharing platforms to install filters to prevent users from uploading copyrighted materials.

REUTERS