YouTube signs deal with Merlin, the fifth-largest music label
YouTube has snagged a licensing deal with Merlin, a consortium of independent music labels that together represent 14,000 artists including Adele and Arcade Fire.
The deal lets musicians represented by Merlin receive royalties each time a YouTube user publishes an online video that uses all or parts of a song owned by a Merlin artist.
Merlin is considered to be the world’s fifth-largest record label, after Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Group, which is being auctioned off by its owner, Citigroup.
YouTube, owned by Internet search giant Google Inc., has already reached similar licensing arrangements with the four major labels.
The world’s largest online video site has been keen to wrap up all the necessary licenses with music and movie rights holders. So far, it’s had more luck dealing with the music industry. In August, YouTube settled a copyright infringement lawsuit with the National Music Publishers Assn., an organization that represents independent songwriters.
The company has not, however, had as much luck coming to terms with Viacom, which is suing YouTube and parent Google for allegedly hosting copyrighted clips from its shows, including “South Park” and “The Daily Show.” A federal judge last year ruled in favor of YouTube, saying the company complied with the law by removing offending videos when asked to do so by rights holders.
On Tuesday, Viacom asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan to throw out the lower court ruling.
