When the dust has settled in a German court, YouTube is left ruing over what could have been as they trooped out the loser in a court battle over music clips, potentially being hit with a size-able bill for royalties. A Hamburg court decided based on the evidence and arguments submitted that YouTube holds some responsibility for the kind of content that users post, and that includes video clips with copyrighted music playing inside. Basically, what YouTube needs to do as restitution would be to install filters which are smart enough to figure out just when users make attempts to post music clips whose rights are currently in the possession of royalty collection group, Gema.
YouTube argued that they hold no responsibility at all for the kind of content that users put up, despite welcoming the decision of the court, as it helps create legal certainty for uploading sites and those who make use of them. Currently, Gema represents approximately 60,000 German song writers and musicians, so the potentially huge bill will definitely turn the face of shareholders of Google sour.