JURIST - Paper Chase: Germany court rules Youtube must filter uploaded videos

[JURIST] A court in Hamburg, Germany ruled Friday that Google's YouTube service must use a filter to prevent people from uploading music videos that the do not have the right to upload. The ruling effectively holds Google liable [AP report] for content that is uploaded by users and increases their responsibility to police content. Google must immediately block the video to prevent further copyright infringement. Further, the court ruled that Google needs to use new filters to prevent users from uploading infringing material. The lawsuit was brought by Germany's music copyright organization, GEMA [official website, in German], regarding 12 user uploaded music videos that were not properly licensed. GEMA welcomed the ruling [press release, in German] as a "major success."

Google has been involved in many lawsuits regarding potential copyright infringements. Earlier this month, a US federal court reinstated a lawsuit against Google brought by Viacom, that was originally dismissed [JURIST reports] in 2010. A lawsuit targeting Google's book service [JURIST report] was also brought last September. A similar class action lawsuit was rejected that March [JURIST report]. A different German court ruled in April 2010 Google's image service did not violate copyright laws [JURIST report].