YouTube to Distribute Warner Music Videos

By Jennifer LeClaire
TechNewsWorld

YouTube and Warner Music this week sealed a deal that will allow YouTube users to access music and video content from Warner Music's catalog. The two companies will share revenue from advertising in both Warner music videos and user-uploaded videos that incorporate audio and audiovisual works from Warner's catalog.

Warner Music Group on Monday inked a deal with online viral video community YouTube to distribute its library of music videos, which includes content from such acts as Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

YouTube will also distribute behind-the-scences footage, artist interviews, original programming and other special Warner content to its community, which views more than 100 million videos every day.

Musical Views
In addition, YouTube users will be able to incorporate music from the world's fourth-largest record company's music catalog into the videos they create and upload onto YouTube. This part of the agreement is an interesting move in a community where users reguarly do so without permission from copyright holders.

Warner is the first music company to officially attempt to harness YouTube's community power to commercially distribute its music video content.

The announcement comes in the wake of Universal Music's accusation that YouTube and MySpace are "copyright infringers" and that they owe the music industry millions of dollars. Some analysts believe a copyright lawsuit against the sites is forthcoming.

YouTube is taking steps to avoid such claims by partnering with major media companies and developing a content indentification and royalty reporting system set for release by the end of the year. The system is designed to give content creators, including record labels, TV networks and movie studios, the opportunity to authorize the use of their content within the YouTube community.

YouTube and Warner will share revenue from advertising on both Warner music videos and user-uploaded videos that incorporate audio and audiovisual works from Warner's catalog.
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