Google Will Pay License Fees For Indie Music Clips On YouTube

Google has agreed to pay royalties to songwriters repped by the National Music Publishers Assocation when their songs appear in videos on YouTube. The deal, which covers roughly 3,000 mainly indie songwriters, resolves a copyright lawsuit brought by the organization in 2007 and sets up the two sides to share ad revenues generated byvideos on YouTube. We are pleased to have resolved NMPAs litigation claims and to work with YouTube in providing a new licensing opportunity for songwriters and publishers, NMPA president and CEO David Israelite said on the group's web site. This is a positive conclusion for all parties and one that recognizes and compensates the work of songwriters and publishers going forward. The largest music publishers, EMI Music Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainmenthavetheir ownlicensing contracts with YouTube and are not part of this agreement.