Monday, March 9 2009, 21:19 GMT By Sarah Rollo, Entertainment Reporter
Music videos will reportedly be blocked for British YouTube users because of "prohibitive" licensing fees. Google Inc took the decision after being unable to reach a rights deal with the songwriters's collection society PRS, according to Reuters. Representatives for the video sharing site said that PRS was asking it to pay much more than its previous licensing agreement. "The costs are simply prohibitive for us - under PRS's proposed terms we would lose significant amounts of money with every playback," the company said in a blog. In December, Warner Music pulled its material from the site following a breakdown in negotiations over payment. Warner was reportedly unhappy with the amount of money being offered and was demanding better royalties and more competitive advertising rates.
This isn't about buying music. It's about being able to watch music videos on YouTube, or being allowed to create music videos using other people's music. It's not as if the record companies make it easy for fans to request permission to use "their" music.